Paul Coffey- what made him great?

[tony d]

Great skater and that wonderful offensive game certainly helped.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

His skating style was so smooth. Look at him effortlessly go from crossing-over one direction to the other without losing a step.

A guy like Orr was more of a brute skater who just flat out skate around you, Paul's style was really smooth and deceptive.

he's somehow accelerating while moving laterally. how is that even possible?

 

[BenchBrawl]

I learned a lot about skating just watching Coffey skate. My own skating got better immediately once I figured out some things he was doing. Granted, I'm just an amateur player.

Coffey has gotten underrated on this board; you can't teach the instincts he had, the long passes, knowing when to move ahead to support an offensive play.

 

[SealsFan]

Where do you start? Let's see:

-- Probably the greatest skater in NHL history. I believe his skating defied the laws of physics. When you watch him, he seems to glide over the ice-surface more than stride. Nobody seemed able to knock him over or rub him out when he was in full flight. Whereas skaters like Orr or McDavid seem(ed) to overpower opponents with their speed, Coffey just seemed to effortlessly move past and through them, like he was coated with butter.

Just reviewed some videos and this is what stands out for me. When you watch the end-to-end rush videos it's amazing how FEW STRIDES he takes to accomplish it, and how he doesn't seem to be expending much energy at it. When you've got a guy who can go from his defensive position to the net that quickly and you combine him with Gretzky/Kurri or Lemieux/Stevens, it's like facing a continuous powerplay.

 

[GMR]

This may be off topic, but how did Coffey amass 193 PIM in 1989?

He had several seasons with over 100 PIM, but that one stands out.

 

[BenchBrawl]

His skating style was so smooth. Look at him effortlessly go from crossing-over one direction to the other without losing a step.

A guy like Orr was more of a brute skater who just flat out skate around you, Paul's style was really smooth and deceptive.

So beautiful, especially his ''cross steps'' or whatever it's called in english.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

So beautiful, especially his ''cross steps'' or whatever it's called in english.

crossovers

when i learned how to skate, i was always told to dig in with the toe when crossing over to try to not lose speed while changing directions. and i was a good east-west skater for house league. but man look at coffey. what is the word they use these days? edgework?

 

[Filthy Dangles]

he's somehow accelerating while moving laterally. how is that even possible?

No idea, if you find out, let me know.

So beautiful, especially his ''cross steps'' or whatever it's called in english.

usually just 'crossovers' or crossover steps. but yeah his ability to pick up speed and spring out of them is probably the best pat of his skating. also why it looks like he was almost 'gliding' out there. he didn't need long strides to pick up a ton of speed, he'd just quickly crossover.

 

[KMart27]

This may be off topic, but how did Coffey amass 193 PIM in 1989?

He had several seasons with over 100 PIM, but that one stands out.

Might have just been part of playing on that team. The Penguins had 15 players with 100+ PIM. Overall they had 2565 PIM as a team. Even Barrasso had 49 PIM in 44 games.

 

[BenchBrawl]

crossovers

when i learned how to skate, i was always told to dig in with the toe when crossing over to try to not lose speed while changing directions. and i was a good east-west skater for house league. but man look at coffey. what is the word they use these days? edgework?

No idea, if you find out, let me know.



usually just 'crossovers' or crossover steps. but yeah his ability to pick up speed and spring out of them is probably the best pat of his skating. also why it looks like he was almost 'gliding' out there. he didn't need long strides to pick up a ton of speed, he'd just quickly crossover.

I just watched a video of Paul Coffey skating, and in the description one thing it said, and that's one thing I got from watching Coffey a few years ago, was that during crossovers, always put your balance foot at the center of your circle of gravity. This is slightly counter-intuitive physically, at least it was for me, who instinctively tried to throw my weight in the direction of the crossover instead of letting the balance foot and the gravity do the work for me. That's the key, gravity should do most of the work for you (hence the ''effortless'' impression), like your stick should do most of the work when you shoot. Or at least some of the work.

Once I did it the other way I literally gained speed while doing crossovers, or at least didn't lose any momentum at all. I felt it immediately, as if it wasn't me skating. No practice, nothing. I stepped in, tried it, and it worked. Then you can paufine later.

Obviously I never had a really good coach in the minors neither, since I didn't play a high enough level, so perhaps if I did I would have been taught that at a young age. As they say, never too old to learn.

The description of the video:

Power and Balance are the 2 most important aspects of skating.
Balance and Power requires:
1, A deep knee bend
2. placement of the balance skate under the center of gravity
3. Using the whole using the whole skate blade to create force

 

[BenchBrawl]

I might be completely wrong and perhaps a good skating coach is on this forum and can chime in:

You know when you're skating, and sometimes you're about to fall from behind? The kind of powerful ''élan'' (run-up?) in weight transfer just as you're about to lose balance? There's a lot of power in that, which is why it's such a dangerous thing especially with the whip effect of the back of the head on the ice.

Well, skating ''effortlessly'' is about using such power, which is already there in the first place. The ''friction'' between the balance foot and gravity, all your weight on the balance foot which is slowly ''crumbling'' under the weight but instead of collapsing is just sliding... powerfully (thanks ice). And then you make a step to start the process again.

 

[irunthepeg]

His skating style was so smooth. Look at him effortlessly go from crossing-over one direction to the other without losing a step.

A guy like Orr was more of a brute skater who just flat out skate around you, Paul's style was really smooth and deceptive.

He looks like he's not even trying to skate.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I don't think that's true since a player can't swing their arms when they're carrying the puck

Have you never heard this said about a player? Many of the best players are as fast with the puck as they are without (perhaps if you timed them down to the millisecond this wouldn't be absolutely true). In fact, a guy like Bure seemed to faster WITH the puck.

 

[Neutrinos]

Have you never heard this said about a player? Many of the best players are as fast with the puck as they are without (perhaps if you timed them down to the millisecond this wouldn't be absolutely true). In fact, a guy like Bure seemed to faster WITH the puck.

It's just nonsense that people spew without giving it much thought

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

It's just nonsense that people spew without giving it much thought

It's not nonsense.

Perhaps you are a true literalist (in which case you're oratory skills are probably lacking). But there are genuinely players who, at least seem to be, faster with the puck than without. If you've ever played, you will know how rare it is, and how difficult it is to play against players like this. But to chalk it off as nonsense seems...odd.

 

[Neutrinos]

It's not nonsense.

Perhaps you are a true literalist (in which case you're oratory skills are probably lacking). But there are genuinely players who, at least seem to be, faster with the puck than without. If you've ever played, you will know how rare it is, and how difficult it is to play against players like this. But to chalk it off as nonsense seems...odd.

Watch a fastest skater competition

They swing their arms as they skate, similarly to how a sprinter swings their arms when they run

Do you think a sprinter would go faster if you gave him a stick and told him to push a ball down the track as he ran?

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Watch a fastest skater competition

They swing their arms as they skate, similarly to how a sprinter swings their arms when they run

Do you think a sprinter would go faster if you gave him a stick and told him to push a ball down the track as he ran?

The best skaters touch the puck with such precision that they place it precisely where they need to and don't touch the puck any more than the absolute minimum needed.

 

[Nick Hansen]

It's not nonsense.

Perhaps you are a true literalist (in which case you're oratory skills are probably lacking). But there are genuinely players who, at least seem to be, faster with the puck than without. If you've ever played, you will know how rare it is, and how difficult it is to play against players like this. But to chalk it off as nonsense seems...odd.

McDavid being the perfect example. He just explodes.

 

[Neutrinos]

The best skaters touch the puck with such precision that they place it precisely where they need to and don't touch the puck any more than the absolute minimum needed.

Nothing about carrying a puck would result in a player's ability to skate faster

This isn't even worth discussing

 

[Nick Hansen]

Nothing about carrying a puck would result in a player's ability to skate faster

This isn't even worth discussing

Chasing a goal versus attempting to strip someone else of the puck.

 

[MartinS82]

Since McDavid came into the league there has been a lot of talk of linear crossovers - basically crossing over as much as possible, even when skating in a straight line point A to point B. Obviously players (and figure skaters) have always known that you can generate speed while crossing over versus a straight ahead stride. I'll bet if you counted how often Coffey crossed over vs the typical player he'd probably do it 2-3 times more.

https://www.tsn.ca/crossovers-set-crosby-mcdavid-apart-from-peers-1.602173

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Since McDavid came into the league there has been a lot of talk of linear crossovers - basically crossing over as much as possible, even when skating in a straight line point A to point B. Obviously players (and figure skaters) have always known that you can generate speed while crossing over versus a straight ahead stride. I'll bet if you counted how often Coffey crossed over vs the typical player he'd probably do it 2-3 times more.

https://www.tsn.ca/crossovers-set-crosby-mcdavid-apart-from-peers-1.602173

wow when i was in house league (in the early 90s) we used to do a power skating drill where you took three strides, then do a crossover, then three more strides, then crossover the other way. who knew it was making us faster?

that said, i think what we were marveling at about coffey’s skating was he was doing really wide arc crossovers and still managing to pick up speed. if i’m understanding correctly, i think that’s different from these linear crossovers. “It isn’t a crossover in the traditional sense—like skating around in a circle—but rather crossing their feet in acceleration, at top speed, while skating in a straight line.”

that coffey clip is almost like allen iverson when he used to cross guys over and burst in the opposite direction in one motion, seemingly defying the laws of physics.

 

[Staniowski]

In addition to what has been said, Coffey always seemed very naturally athletic to me. I remember an interview he did a few years back where they asked him how he worked to get so fast and good at skating. He basically said that he didn't work harder than anyone else, as everyone worked hard, but he was a natural. Pretty honest answer. If Coffey came up through the ranks later I think he'd have been something like mid 2000s Niedermayer, though Coffey had better skill and was more aggressive (even adjusting for era) than Niedermayer ever was.

Yeah, I bet he was a great skater when he first started skating at a young age. That's often how it goes.

I remember Sidney Crosby's mom saying that she couldn't believe how talented and good Crosby was, immediately, when he started playing hockey. She couldn't understand where his talent came from (even though he had some good hockey players on both sides of his family). Just a natural though.

 

[billybudd]

Coffey would do this thing where he'd be having a quiet shift, not expending a lot of energy, and he'd wait until the guys on the other team were at the end of theirs. At this point, he'd activate very aggressively. This worked an awful lot.