Barton Oleksy <barto RemoveThis @nait.ab.ca> wrote in message
news:2ab2608f847c0b664e2aa00de430ea4d@news.teranews.com...
> Mario R wrote:
>
> > Coffey had it all. Superior skating stride, magical excelleration,
elusive
> > rink to rink rushes, excellent passer but most importantly he did all
this
> > and was still an EXCELLENT D. He would often be the only one back on a 2
on
> > 1, or a 3 on 1(hockey was different then) and would break up a play
> > wonderfully. Coffey was also not size compromised so he could hit,
muscle
> > for the puck like D are supposed to be able to do.
> >
> Have to disagree with you on this one, Mario. Coffey was maybe the best
> pure skater EVER, or in the top 5, but he had MANY MANY brane cramps in
> the defensive zone, which is why his partner was usually Huddy (Mr.
> Reliable).
This would be early in his career which started when he was 19. Not like now
where a D is groomed for several years in the farm team learning the pro
game. Coffey was thrown to the wolves, highly criticized whenever he made a
mistake, despite everything he brought to the team. When he was with the Oil
he scored as many goals, assists as an entire teams D corps these days.
The fact that he was out of position once in a while was due to the vast
amount of rushes. Bergeron does a couple rushes and people are comparing him
to Coffey. Coffey would routinely rush the puck like that 10 times in one
game. You give Coffey NO credit for the D improvement he showed here and in
his subsequent years. For most of his Oiler years he was YOUNGER than
Bergeron.
If he got pressured at all with the puck, he was just as
> likely to make a pass to the other team as to get it out of the zone.
The Oil played an ultra fastbreak game in those days. Hockeys version of
"SHOWTIME" In fairness to Coffey it was his role to either move it out
super-quick or make a fantastic pass super-quick. Not at all like today
where you see Brewer methodically deciding what to do with the biscuit.
The speed expectation of course led to mistakes but your suggestion that he
was "just as likely to make a pass to the other team" is *highly inaccurate*
He was obviously successful many more times than not of course which was
synonymous with the overall unprecedented team offensive success that he was
a BIG part of.
Give him time and he'd kill you with an awesome 50-foot pass to spring
> someone loose, but he wasn't perfect defensively by any means.
But he was routinely getting 100pt seasons and was very valuable. Bart, its
really impossible to create that degree of offence and not sacrifice
*something* on D. IMO he handled the dual roles as well as Bourque which is
to say as well as anybody cept the immortal Orr.
He
> wasn't all that big, either, although bigger than Bergeron. I remember
> him usually keeping out of the scrums along the boards, poking in with
> his stick, waiting for the puck to spring loose so he could take off
> down the ice with it.
The interesting thing is there weren't as many scrums along the boards as
once Coffey had the puck he was unstoppable. The other team sometimes wasn't
gonna touch it till they fished it out of the back of their net.
>
> Breath-taking, in BOTH senses of the word! ;-)
Fantastic player who played a game that really doesn't get played much
anymore!
> I actually agree with a lot of your concerns about Bergeron, but in my
> opinion (lately) his positives outweigh the negatives. He's learning
> when to make the smart play, and I've seen him eat the puck a few times
> rather than making a low-percentage pass that would more than likely get
> picked off for a chance the other way.
He's definitely played better. I too have noted him refraining from forcing
a play thats not there.
>
> On the other hand, "you can't teach size", and he doesn't often
> out-battle someone along the boards for the puck, so that's definitely a
> concern. At the start of the year (when expectations were fairly high
> after his strong play at the end of last season) I remember hearing
> about how he's built like a brick s**thouse, and the low center of
> gravity thing, but you're right that we haven't seen too much of that
> lately.
None of the *Morrow*-like hits ;o)
>
> I suspect he's becoming more confident in his offensive abilities, so
> he's looking for more opportunities for that rather than The Big Hit
> like the one on Morrow last year. BUT, who knows...if he can keep
> chipping in offensively and stay "OK" in the d-zone then he'll help the
> club overall. Plus he's still got things to learn and hopefully will
> improve with each game, even if just a little...
>
> Bart
He is contributing offensively and avoiding bad mistakes. unfortunately he
is also a large part of the can't get the damn puck out of our own enditis!
When he struggles in a scrum which is ALWAYS we commit one more player and
leave somebody open. He is somehow finding a way to contribut more goals
than what he costs in goals so I'm happy right now.
Big Kudos to MacT for how he's developed him as when Bergeron was sent down
MacT was highly criticized but Bergeron himself stated he was tired, burned
out, and needed a chance to refocus. The learning curve of the NHL game was
getting to him and he was putting too much pressure on himself and getting
worse. Now that he's back in his groove we can see the difference. Excellent
player management in this instance. ;)
> >> Stay informed about: Is Bergeron Paul Coffey re-incarnated? 
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