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Coffey break Veteran defenseman retires after 21 NHL seasons
Updated: Wednesday October 03, 2001 5:54 PM
TORONTO (AP) -- Paul Coffey retired Wednesday, ending a 21-year NHL career in which the star defenseman won four Stanley Cups. The 40-year-old Coffey was a 14-time All-Star who won three Norris trophies as the NHL's best defenseman. With 1,531 points, he is second only to Ray Bourque in career scoring by a defenseman and is the leading career playoff scorer among blueliners with 196 points in 194 games. "I was able to play on championship teams both in the NHL and at the international level alongside so many players, and I will remember these experiences forever," Coffey said. He won Stanley Cups at Edmonton in 1984, 1985 and 1987 and then in 1991 with Pittsburgh. He also won three Canada Cups. He joined the league with Edmonton in 1980. In addition to Pittsburgh, he played for Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago, Carolina and Boston. He was waived by the Bruins last season after 18 games. "He's one of those to me, along with Bobby Orr, that really changed the game of hockey for defensemen -- the way he could skate, the way he could control a game from back there, jump into the play," Carolina Hurricanes captain Ron Francis said. "He really was a dynamic force."
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