Paul Coffey leads the way from just in front of the Edmonton Oilers dressing room, into the dressing room, through a room full of video screens and a large table aptly named the War Room, then out the east door of Rogers Place.

“My office is on the right,” says Coffey, not missing a beat. “Come on in.”

The 62-year-old walks behind his tidy desk ending the short jaunt … all with his skates from a morning skate.

One of the best skaters ever to combine prancing the two-step and balancing edges to make him a Hall of Fame defenceman, he began playing hockey as a forward — until a coaching change by Bob Williams moved him to the blue line when he was nine.

Coffey listened. And acted accordingly: something he learned from his dad Jack.

“The first thing he said was, ‘Listen to your coach.’ That was back in the day when parents stayed out of the way. My father believed the most important thing was your coach,” says Coffey.

When he joined the Oilers, he says Glen Sather, John Muckler and Teddy Green were so influential, in an era where players didn’t have video, pre-scout meetings, power play meetings, or penalty kill meetings.

“Coaching has changed,” says Coffey. “It’s come a long way. We’re in an age now where players want information, and a lot of it.”

He pauses to chuckle. “Back in my day we didn’t have it. Maybe, that was a good thing.”

As for coaching and teaching, it’s 24/7, man. He does it all the time: conversations with players, his wife, and his kids.

“I’m always teaching. In hockey, I guess practices are very important. Our head coach Kris (Knoblauch) he does and an incredible job, and that’s special.”

One of Coffey’s first moves as defensive coach after he joined the Oilers in mid-November last year was rearranging where his six defencemen sat, putting them together in the dressing room.

“I did it for communication,” he says.

“The first thing you want to do when you come into the dressing room is see where your players are. That way I can go over to the six D and I don’t have to yell at them.”

With the addition of Knoblauch and Coffey, the Oilers turned things around — the team’s record was 3-9-1 — and went on quite the rip, including a 16-game unbeaten streak putting them in a horse race for their first division title in 37 years.

Yet, Coffey wasn’t looking for a coaching gig. When Oilers owner Daryl Katz asked him to be an assistant, the answer was no. Same answer for Oilers hockey operations chief Jeff Jackson. They asked for the third time.

“I knew if I didn’t do it I would always wonder why — I didn’t want that. And I wouldn’t do it anywhere else but Edmonton.”

Quite the statement for the guy who grew up in the Toronto area and who, before he came to Edmonton, had only been as far west as Windsor, Ont.

“If I wasn’t having fun, I wouldn’t be here. I stand behind the bench and ask myself where I would rather be.”

His steadfast answer: “Nowhere.

“And, it ain’t work.”

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