Was Paul Coffey Better than Orr?

1995

Now that Detroit's Paul Coffey has crested 1,000 assists, becoming only the fourth player and first defenseman to do so, is it time to call Coffey, so swift he should be called "Instant," the greatest offensive defenseman ever?

Nope. That's still Bobby Orr. And for those who scream to look at the numbers, OK, we'll do just that.

First, a little obvious subjective question for you: who would you rather play with if you wanted big point totals? Phil Esposito, Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge in the goon-heavy 1970s or Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Mario Lemieux in the supersonic 1980s?

Even given the advantages of playing with the most offensively talented team ever (Edmonton 1981-87), the most talented teams since then (Pittsburgh 1988-92, Detroit 1993-present) and playing 12 1/2 seasons with the two greatest offensive players ever (Gretzky in Edmonton and Lemieux in Pittsburgh), Coffey trails Orr in several offensive categories.

Orr still is third all-time in assists per game, behind only Gretzky and Lemieux, respectively. Those two, plus Islanders' great Mike Bossy are the only ones that top Orr's points-per-game career numbers.

Of the top five totals for defenseman assists in a season, Orr has four, including No. 1 -- the 102 assists in 1970-71 that were the pre-Gretzky NHL record. In defenseman points in a season, Orr has Nos. 1, 3 and 5, Coffey has Nos. 2 and 4. Orr had six 100-point seasons in what was essentially a nine-season career. Coffey has hit the century mark five times in 15 seasons.

At least Cof is a better goal scorer, right? After all, he broke Orr's defenseman record of 46 in a season with 48 in 1985-86. But Orr's goals-per-game average over a career was .411, Coffey's entering this season was only .332.

Besides, Coffey's 48-goal season came during what Gretzky and the record books remember as Gretzky's ultimate year as setup man with a blinding 163 assists. The year Orr scored 46 (1974-75), he also led the league in assists. That was the year of his second scoring title, the only two ever won by a defenseman. When it comes to greatest all-around defenseman, you can argue Orr vs. Doug Harvey vs. Denis Potvin vs. Eddie Shore vs. Ray Bourque (who will hit 1,000 assists next season). But for pure offense, nobody has surpassed Orr.