Paul Coffey: 'I wish there was more hitting' in today's NHL

Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey had to play through some of the hardest hitting days of the NHL. As a fan of what today's game has turned into, he's still yearning for the grittiness to return.

 

"The one thing I wish - and can I say again I love watching the game, it's great - I wish there was more hitting," Coffey said on Sportsnet's "Writer's Bloc" podcast. "I wasn't a hitter, but I?ll tell you what, if I had my proverbial head up my rear-end one game and I wasn't into it and somebody hit me, it certainly woke me up real fast. I think that part of the game is gone."

 

Coffey further explained his reasoning for wanting the bigger hits to return.

 

"You put traffic, you start hitting guys, game gets a lot more interesting," he added. "The real players come out to play, the real players know how to think in traffic and that was an exciting part of the game that I don't know if it'll ever come back."

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/icehockey_nhl/paul-coffey-i-wish-there-was-more-hitting-in-todays-nhl/ar-BB12cv9s

Yes, hockey is vastly different, obviously much, much, much more skilled, the shit players do now is just mind boggling, but it's lost its circus aspect.

Growing up I don't know any kids that went to the junior game every Friday night to see goals, we went for the circus.

Gone forever. Kind of sucks but I get it, living with a brain injury has completely changed my opinion on it. I guess you could argue that they know they are taking that risk but I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I also do enjoy the higher level of skill as a trade off.

Yes, hockey is vastly different, obviously much, much, much more skilled, the shit players do now is just mind boggling, but it's lost its circus aspect.

 

Growing up I don't know any kids that went to the junior game every Friday night to see goals, we went for the circus.

I don’t think he’s suggesting that much... more like insinuating he’d be a “hitter” in today’s game... they’re soft!

Anyone who's got an issue with lack of hitting should take it up with the players and not the league.

Players brought a class action lawsuit against league regarding concussions. League had to do something. So they did what they do best and half assed a rule that they botch enforcement of.

In general, I think the moves made to enable skill players to shine has been positive.

My main gripe is the abolishment of the clean, open ice hit. It's really annoying that virtually every big open ice hit is followed by a bunch of players getting their handbags out, and the refs handing out a minor penalty even if the hit was 100% clean.

Understand the disappearance of open ice hits being a bad thing. But that's in part because the players are now better skaters, in better shape and take shorter shifts. Those hits where a player gets clobbered at the end of a long shift on his way to the bench being gone is a good thing. And NOBODY should want to go back to teams freezing the puck in end board scrums what seemed like 100 times a game. In the game NYR v. Blues, was as as stretch of about 10 minutes of continuous play without a whistle, which in the 1970s or 1980s would have been unthinkable.

One part I do miss about Olde Tyme is the guys who plant themselves in front of the net and battle a big D to try to get a deflection or a tip in. It happens but it used to be way more prevalent. Phil Esposito getting beat to hell by Rod Langway for a chance at a goal was a good battle to watch.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/icehockey_nhl/paul-coffey-i-wish-there-was-more-hitting-in-todays-nhl/ar-BB12cv9s

Ha! Ha! The guy was a soft player.