By Greg Nikkel
Sports fans gained some insight into the NHL and Major League Baseball with two insiders sharing stories and insights as guests for the Weyburn Red Wings’ annual Sports Dinner and Auction.
The Cugnet Centre was filled on Saturday evening to hear NHL Hall-of-Famer Paul Coffey, and the “Manalyst”, sportscaster and former backcatcher Gregg Zaun, both answering questions from the audience and the emcee, Clayton Kroeker, during an extended “Hot Stove” interview format on the stage following the catered supper.
Currently, Zaun is well-known for being Jamie Campbell’s partner on Blue Jay Central on Sportsnet. He was asked what the atmosphere was like in Toronto and in the Rogers Centre during the Texas Rangers series.
“It was absolute chaos. You could feel the city getting ready to erupt. They wanted something big to happen, and at the end of the game, they were ready to explode. At the end of the day, that’s what sports is all about, is the drama, the story,” said Zaun, noting all sports fans have key moments that stick in their memory, and for him this was certainly one of them.
“The static electricity in Rogers Centre made the hairs on the back of my hands stand up. There was so much excitement, the people were just buzzing,” he said, noting Campbell is one of his best friends in the world, and he gets to go to work with him every day, adding that Campbell “has no ego at all.”
One of the questions for Coffey was his opinion about who the better player was, Wayne Gretzky when he was an Oiler, or Mario Lemieux when he was a Penguin.
“I got into trouble about 10 years ago on ESPN Radio when I was asked that. I said the greatest player to ever play was Wayne Gretzky. He’s 1,000 points better than anyone who’s ever played the game. The most talented player I played with and against was Mario Lemieux. He had unbelievably soft hands,” said Coffey, going on to relate how Gretzky heard a part of the interview, “the wrong part”, and ripped into Coffey for what he said, and didn’t speak to him for three weeks as a result.
He noted that the 1987 Canada Cup series was “pretty much Mario’s coming-out party” for how well he played there, and recalled seeing Mario play for a Quebec junior team in 1984, after an Oilers game in Montreal. At that time, Gretzky said of him, “This guy is good, and he’ll be good for any team he plays for.”
Both men were asked what they miss the most about their pro playing days, and Coffey said he misses the camaraderie in the locker room, and the emotions of being in the game.
“Nothing in life prepares you for it,” he said.
“The fellowship is one of the things a lot of people don’t get, and the locker room atmosphere,” added Zaun in agreeing with Coffey. “If you’re part of a team, everything’s on the table. What I loved the most was the accountability.”
He said in the locker room, he could rip into a teammate for how he played, and he could do the same right back.
Coffey was asked what his opinion is about fighting in hockey, and on the enforcers who do most of the fighting.
“It’s an important part of the game,” he replied. “There’s an influential guy in the league right now who’s against fighting, and he was very well protected when he played, in Detroit. You have to have them (enforcers), because the star needs to be protected. That’s my opinion.”
He was also asked which was the most exciting experience, winning a Stanley Cup or being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Coffey said by far the best experience was winning the Stanley Cup.
“But it goes hand in hand. When you win Stanley Cups, you get inducted into the Hall of Fame. I was fortunate to play on some great teams with some great players,” said Coffey.
He shared one story about Gretzky before the Oilers had their Stanley Cup run, when they were defeated by the New York Islanders. Noting that even though Gretzky was named the MVP of the NHL, “he was absolutely devastated. We were both 22 years old, and I asked him what was wrong. He said, ‘I can never be mentioned in the same breath as Bryan Trottier … unless I win the Stanley Cup.’ That always stuck with me. That’s what it’s all about.”
Asked who the toughest player was he played with who wasn’t a fighter, Coffey replied, “You know who’s unbelievably under-rated? Glen Anderson. He was tough as nails. He could deke out a goalie with the goalie standing on the goal line.”
Coffey played for 21 years in the NHL on nine teams, winning four Stanley Cup and three Norris Trophies, and ranks second in all-time scoring by a defenceman with 1,531 points over 1,409 regular season games.
Zaun was asked if Roy Halliday was the best pitcher he ever caught for, and he replied that Halliday was probably the best prepared pitcher he played with “and was a gem to work with.”
Zaun spent 15 years in the major leagues, including being a part of the Florida Marlins when they won the World Series in 1997.
Asked what advice they could give to a young athlete, including members of the Red Wings who were servers for the evening event, Coffey said simply, “Listen to your coach and work hard.”
Zaun’s advice was, “Don’t be afraid to fall on your face. You’re going to make mistakes — that’s how you learn. Keep trying new things and getting better.”
