'Do As I Say, Not As I Did': Paul Coffey Reveals His Philosophy Behind Coaching The Edmonton Oilers Defenders
Paul Coffey has learned a thing or two over his NHL career.
Bob Frid-Imagn Images - 'Do As I Say, Not As I Did': Paul Coffey Reveals His Philosophy Behind Coaching The Edmonton Oilers DefendersEDMONTON -- "I love the game too much to be negative."
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Those are the words of Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey. The Hall of Fame defender went from the life of a consultant/executive to an NHL coach.
Coffey has extensive NHL experience and is the coach of the Oilers' blueline. He has learned how to motivate his players effectively.
In a guest appearance on Oilers Now this past Thursday, Coffey spoke about many things. One of them was the way he approached coaching the Oilers defenders.
The show's host, Bob Stauffer, asked Coffey about his approach to correcting players' behavior when they make mistakes and he specifically mentioned Evan Bouchard in his response.
"I said, 'Bouch, as long as your good talent outweighs the bad, we're going to have fun here,'" Coffey revealed. "Let's continue to get better and better, and he's done that."
Coffey knows what it's like to be a high-profile offensive defender in the Edmonton market. After all, this is the second-highest scoring defender of all time. Coffey finished his career with 1531 points in 1409 games played.
He scored over 100 points five times in his career.
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He has a very simple approach when it comes to helping his players develop their game.
"My philosophy: I don't put a player in a box," Coffey said. "I don't tell him, 'this is all you can do and that's all I want you to do.'"
"No, I want it all. I think if you instill that confidence in him, for the most part, you'll get a better player than if not."
Confidence is the name of the game. Playing at the highest level is tough if a player is not confident in their game
The days of berating players are long over, and Coffey positively contributes to that. He doesn't believe in the "old-school" break them down and build them back up philosophy.
Because of that, the Oilers are more than lucky to have him behind the bench.
"I love the game too much to be negative," Coffey reveals. "I love watching it."
"I do tell my defensemen, 'do as I say, not as I did' because I was as risky as it got out there."
Despite how risky his game was as a player, he's considerably less risky as a coach.
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