TRAIKOS: Paul Coffey says Avalanche reminds me of a "young oilers team"

Denver — The other day Paul Coffey sat in the clubhouse Someone asked me what I got from watching a hockey game recently in the final of the Stanley Cup after the round of golf I was watching.

Coffey saw him incredibly.

He said he had nothing to gain. 

"I just like to be entertained."

That's why Coffey has been watching the finals. In particular, that's why he likes to see the Colorado Avalanche. How they play the game — Defense rushes in, teams constantly attack and pace up, coaches don't settle for low-scoring wins — is interesting to say the least It was a thing. 

That was pretty familiar to me.

"Colorado is like us as a young oilers team," Coffey said in a telephone interview with Post Media on Friday. "They are very easygoing and don't care. They want to beat the champion. Like we did. They wanted to beat the Islanders."

In 1984, the Oilers, led by 22-year-old Coffey and 23-year-old Wayne Gretzky, finally won the 4-1 Series. Almost 40 years later, the avalanche team, led by 23-year-old Cale Makar and 26-year-old Nathan MacKinnon, headed to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals with the aim of ending the Tampa Bay Lightning bid with three. peat. 

"They never died," Coffey said of the Islanders, who swept the Oilers in the final a year ago. .. "They weren't dead until you made a lot of holes in them. We climbed 4-0 in Game 5 and when we entered the third phase, the dressing room was in a turmoil. Then they were the first. I scored two goals in 6 minutes or something to make it 4-2, and you want to talk about tightening. I remember playing power, but I was just trying to kill it — It's not a score. In the end, I got an empty netter, but it wasn't easy. "

It wasn't easy for Colorado either. 

Avalanche had a two-goal lead and had to work overtime to beat Lightning 4-3 in Game 1. After blowing Tampa Bay 7-0 in Game 2, he lost 6-2 in Game 3 and needed another overtime win in Game 4. There, too many men could have escaped by being on the ice to be the winner of the game.

Throughout, the team hasn't lost sight of its identity. It seems to share DNA with the Oilers team, which has won five championships in seven years.

"I saw it in Game 4 overtime. Colorado has young legs," said Coffey, who praised Lightning's accomplishments in an era of encouraging equality. "Anyone who knocks on Tampa Bay is an idiot. What the team has done over the years is a credit to the organization. But they are a tired team. Now they are tired. Or are you tired because Colorado is too fast? "

Apparently, the latter is possible.

"Looking at Colorado practice and morning skating shows their looseness," Coffey said. "It's like the 1980 oiler's skates. All the tic-tac-toe. Everyone touches the puck. It's fun and loose. And they play in power play and play for keep. That's me.

In particular, Coffey sees a lot of himself in speedy Macar. Macar ranked third in the playoff score and seven in 18 games. He scored 27 goals. 

"It's always intriguing about him that one of the kids knows he's talented. It looks like, "Coffey said. "He has a great deal of enthusiasm for the game — and he should. He gets burned like everyone else, but his good far outweighs the evil and he I'm very confident. I know spirituality. "

Indeed, Bohemian Coffey scored 37 points in 18 games in the 1984 playoffs. These numbers, which were thought to be as unreachable as Coffey's 48 goals and 138 points in 1985-86, are no longer considered unreachable. Not after Macar scored 28 goals and 86 points this season and scored the Norris Trophy in the process. 

And Wayne Gretzky said the young defense has been "the closest player I've ever seen" since Bobby Orr. Not later.

"I agree in all respects," Coffeey said. "I want him to chase everything I had, or what Bobby had. That's what I want to see. I'm a selfish hockey fan. I want to see it forever."

Coffey also wanted to chase what Colorado — or whoever it was — what the Oilers had, what the islanders had, and what Lightning had. is. He wants to see greatness. He wants another dynasty. 

More than that, he just wants to entertain. 

"I haven't given greatness to anyone," Coffey said. "It has to make money, but Colorado looks great." 

mtraikos@postmedia.com

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