PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Paul Coffey will never forget the first time he came to Pittsburgh.
"I was with the Edmonton Oilers and Billy Harris, our assistant coach, had played for the old Pittsburgh Hornets years ago," Coffey said. "I was 19 years old, it was 6:30 at night and he brought me up to the front of the bus and he told me I had to see this when I came out of the tunnel.
"I sat there and all of a sudden, boom, (the city) was right there, which was cool because the lights were shining and the whole bit."
Coffey had plenty of chances to relive that moment coming from the airport through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and seeing the city lit up during his 21 seasons in the NHL. But the five years he spent making that trip while playing for the Penguins were among the most memorable of his career.
Though the 46-year-old Coffey hasn't been to Pittsburgh for several years and now owns a car dealership in Ontario, he will be making a return visit Thursday when the organization makes him the ninth player inducted into the Penguins' Hall of Fame. He is the first inductee since Ulf Samuelsson and Les Binkley were selected in 2003.
"It was great, because any time you get mentioned to get into anybody's Hall of Fame, it's pretty overwhelming," Coffey said. "Pittsburgh's a city that I hold very dear in my heart and, of course, the Penguins. I spent almost five years there. I went there at a time the team wasn't that great ... and I feel like I had a small amount to do with re-establishing the Penguins and get some pride in the organization."
Maybe a little.
Coffey played 331 regular-season games with the Penguins and still holds the franchise records for goals (108), assists (332), points (440) and All-Star Game appearances in a career by a defenseman (five). He also holds the team's single-season records for blueliners with 30 goals, 83 assists and 113 points during the 1988-89 campaign.
Coffey retired with 396 goals, 1,135 assists and 1,531 points, all of which left him second on the NHL's all-time list for defensemen behind Raymond Bourque. Coffey, Bourque and another former Penguins defenseman and Coffey teammate, Larry Murphy, were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
By the numbers, Coffey was the best offensive defenseman in franchise history, but it was the intangibles he brought to the dressing room that helped the Penguins move from cellar-dwellers to Stanley Cup champions in just a few short years.
"He was the ultimate teammate," former Penguins player Phil Bourque said. "He was so professional, not only on the ice, which is what the fans saw, but what a lot of people didn't see was in the dressing room. He knew what to say at the right time.
"You had tons of respect for what he'd done in Edmonton and the three Cups that he'd won, but he just brought a different philosophy here on what it took to get to the next level."
Most hockey players wouldn't have done what Coffey did, leaving a Stanley Cup champion and holding out in an attempt to get traded to a last-place team. But that's exactly what he did until then-Penguins general manager Eddie Johnston made what was, at the time, the biggest trade in franchise history. The Penguins sent 1985 first-round pick Craig Simpson, 1987 first-rounder Chris Joseph, defenseman Moe Mantha and center Dave Hannan to the Oilers for Coffey, left wing Wayne Van Dorp and center Dave Hunter.
"I have to be honest; I remember a week after the trade I said to myself, 'What have you done?' because I pretty much orchestrated that whole trade," Coffey said. "Then, I realized it was a great challenge, it's a great city, we're getting people here, they love hockey, we had someone who was going to be one of the most exciting players to ever play (Mario Lemieux). I just tried to build off what I had learned in Edmonton, bring it to Pittsburgh, and help out as much as I could."
Though Coffey was traded away in February 1992, just a few months after winning the last of his four Stanley Cup titles, he left an indelible impression on the players who came into the league while he was with the Penguins.
"We spent a lot of time together, and he helped me out a lot. His demeanor, his presence and his off-ice presence was really important to me," said Penguins right wing and former Coffey teammate Mark Recchi. "You always have an influence of guys, and you try to learn from them. When you have a group of guys like this, you then try to help them along and be positive and help them grow as players and people."
Keith Barnes can be reached at kbarnes@tribweb.com or 724-853-2109.
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Hot Coffey
A year-by-year look at former Penguins defenseman Paul Coffey during his seasons in Pittsburgh:
Regular season
Year GP G A PTS PIM
1987-88 46 15 52 67 93
1988-89 75 30 83 113 193
1989-90 80 29 74 103 95
1990-91 76 24 69 93 128
1991-92 54 10 54 64 62
Playoffs
1988-89 11 2 13 15 31
1990-91 12 2 9 11 6
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