Defensemen - which side did they play?

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Marcel Pronovost

In Toronto, Pronovost replaced Carl Brewer next to Bobby Baun. That would mean Pronovost played LD in Toronto (see attached file from Times Colonist, Nov 22, 1966 on Baun struggling without Brewer... of course later that season, Toronto would win the Stanley Cup)

On page 96 of Pronovost's book, "Marcel Pronovost - A Life in Hockey," Punch Imlach is quoted as saying Pronovost "will help shore up the left side of our defense, where we had trouble all of last season." That would indicate that Pronovost played LD at least in his last few years in Detroit before Punch got him to play LD in Toronto.

I haven't been able to find which side Pronovost played on early in Detroit. In Ken Dryden's book on Scotty Bowman, Dryden briefly discussed the old Red Wings including the line that "On defense, Kelly played with Goldham; Marcel Pronovost with Leo Reise; Benny Woit was the spare." (page 58). However, I have also found a few articles from the 1950s, where Pronovost was actually paired with Kelly. No mention of the sides that I could find, though I have read elsewhere that Kelly was LD and Goldham RD when those two played together.

So Pronovost was definitely LD late in his career; early in his career is unclear for now.

 

[popo]

Let's talk about Paul Coffey, who is listed at RD in the OP.

Video available online of the 1983 Cup final shows that the Oilers used the following pairings:

LD Lowe - RD Fogolin
LD Jackson - RD Gregg
LD Coffey - RD Huddy

Similarly in the 1987 final it seems to be:

LD Lowe - RD Muni
LD Smith - RD Gregg
LD Coffey - RD Huddy

In the 1991 finals the Penguins had Murphy, Taglianetti and Stanton paying RD, and when Coffey played it was generally with Larry Murphy (RHS).

Post 2 says he played RD in Edmonton "for sure" - so were these Cup finals anomalies? He certainly played a lot of right point on the PP. I also found a quote where he said his first partner was Gary Lariviere, who was RHS, but that would have only been one season at most so it's not much to go on.

Coffey was typically a LD. Aside from a couple years working with Lidstrom in Detroit.
In Edmonton he paired with Lariviere (RD), and mainly Huddy (RD).
In Pittsburgh recall seeing him a bit with Taglianetti on the RD in the 91 Cup run.
In LA he was reunited with Huddy.
In Canada Cup I similarly recall him on the left side.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Coffey was typically a LD. Aside from a couple years working with Lidstrom in Detroit.
In Edmonton he paired with Lariviere (RD), and mainly Huddy (RD).
In Pittsburgh recall seeing him a bit with Taglianetti on the RD in the 91 Cup run.
In LA he was reunited with Huddy.
In Canada Cup I similarly recall him on the left side.

I thought Coffey was even a LD with Lidstrom at RD in Detroit; despite Lidstrom playing LD basically the rest of his career.

 

[tabness]

Yeah Coffey played on the left (or to be clear, lined up on the left as he drifted right a lot), quite a bit with Lidstrom in Detroit, though he did play right at times as well. The Hockey Scouting Report calls him as right defense in his Detroit years (though left after 1992-1993 with LA/Detroit) though.

 

[Staniowski]

Most good defensemen played both sides, usually significant amounts.

 

[BobbyAwe]

Most good defensemen played both sides, usually significant amounts.

Right. Any decent stick handler should be able to play the off-wing or off-side on defense with practice, and the vast majority of players named in this thread certainly were better than decent stick handlers. I think it's governed by what team you're on and whether they need you to play the off-side.

For instance, Orr and Bourque (lefties) played right defense in every game I've ever seen them in, but I'm not sure whether that (initially, in their careers) was their preference or because the team needed a righty to play the left side? In one game from the 80's on YouTube, they had Bourque taking some shifts on LEFT WING! That surprised me, but notice he wasn't on RIGHT wing - he could do either, even at wing.

Of course, any player can naturally play his natural shooting side on wing or defense. Those that historically don't, IMO it's more than likely something they learned to do for a team's sake, not so much because they felt more comfortable on the off-side... although after doing it for a length of time they might be more comfortable there?

 

[MyDogSparty]

Is there any of this researched information available about future potential HOF defensemen who still currently playing or just retired, like Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Brooks Orpik, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Rasmus Dahlin or Roman Josi.

 

[BruinDust]

Most good defensemen played both sides, usually significant amounts.

Exactly. This whole set "left side - right side" stuff didn't really become important until the game really sped up coming out of the lockout. The vast majority of NHL D-men can play either side effectively. Doesn't mean they aren't a bit MORE effective on a particular side, but this concept that they can only play one side or the other is a fairly new phenomenon in NHL hockey. I makes sense now because the game is so fast. But prior to the lockout, I don't think it mattered all that much to NHL D-men or coaches.