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McDavid Or Coffey: Who Is Faster?

I think that Anderson at full speed coming over the blue line was as fast as Coffey but NO ONE was any smoother than Paul Coffey... caveat that with the fact that I never saw Orr live.

It wouldn't surprise me if McDavid is a tad faster than Coffey but I would definitely say he's not a better overall skater. Coffey was special. His detractors hugely underestimate his value on the ice. He could really take a game into his own hands when he hit full flight.
 
Like few of you have mentioned. Coffey was just a beautiful and effortless skater. If you got points for skating style he would win everytime.
One of my favourites in his prime to watch was Modano. He was another great looking skater.
I have never seen anyone accelerate as fast or handle the puck at speed like McDavid. That part of his game is just insane.
 
Coffey was amazing . McDavid is very fast but there are players close . In Coffey,s era I can think of anyone close . Fans saying Coffey was a great skater doesn't tell the whole story . Gretzky was a great skater but he did not come close to Coffey,s speed . Factory in better training , better equipment and I say speed wise it would be close . Damn how I wish we had a young Coffey on our D today
 
Bring Back Bucky said:
I think that Anderson at full speed coming over the blue line was as fast as Coffey but NO ONE was any smoother than Paul Coffey... caveat that with the fact that I never saw Orr live.

It wouldn't surprise me if McDavid is a tad faster than Coffey but I would definitely say he's not a better overall skater. Coffey was special. His detractors hugely underestimate his value on the ice. He could really take a game into his own hands when he hit full flight.
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I agree. Coffey himself stated that the fastest of the Oilers from blue line to blue line was, in fact, Glenn Anderson, noting his incredible jump,
 
As far as speed I cant say, but Coffee took two strides to go from blue line to blue line, so there is that! I would still say McDavid is faster, the game overall is faster.
 
Supreme King said:
I agree. Coffey himself stated that the fastest of the Oilers from blue line to blue line was, in fact, Glenn Anderson, noting his incredible jump,
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I agree, and even Messier could fly when he was with the Oilers. But i have to bring up Todd Marchant, for pure speed he may have been even quicker than those listed except McDavid. Too bad he had stone hands lol.
 
Consider that Coffey would jump into almost every rush with the puck, with no forward covering him, because he almost always got back in time to get into position if the play broke up. He was a 4th forward on the ice, and was still fast enough to beat the other teams forwards back to defend. And he just didn't get back to "catch" an opposition forward, he was between the opposition forward and his goalie, skating backwards. Maybe in a flat out foot race McDavid might beat him, but Coffey was an unreal skater.
 
Coffey was so fluid out there. He would go end to end untouched many times a game. How many times did he get the zone entry up the middle, passing it to the wing, beating the opposition D, the first player at the net while being open for a chance. Those give and go's were killer. My fave oiler of all time. But he does not have that top end speed Connor has.

When you watch Connor in today's game, his explosion is a beautiful thing to watch. Even today, I'm in awe on some of the things he does at those speeds. We really are lucky.
 
Supreme King said:
Paul Coffey, to this day is still the best skater I have ever seen in the NHL. But in terms of "pure" speed, who is faster, Connor McDavid or Paul Coffey? I'm interested in those who saw both play and what there verdict is.
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I've watched Coffey more than I have McDavid so far and maybe it's just time, or HDTV but McDavid makes me laugh with the ridiculous amount of skill and speed that kid has. I think McDavid is the better skater
 
McDavid. No question, I have seen both and to me there is no competition really. Coffey skates a bit like Karlsson, so smooth and the speed can be difficult to see because it is so fluid, but vs McD there is no real race imo..
 
tiger_80 said:
He does seem to be even faster than Hall, who has a great straight line speed, but not nearly as shifty. McDavid seems to be able to accelerate when it already seems like he's at full speed. And he needs so little space separate even from best defenders--if they don't manage to pin him against the wall near the zone entry, he's gone.
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It's crazy deceptive. His acceleration from a stand still is the best in the game and like you said even when he's flying it's like he finds an extra gear in the blink of an eye.
 
Eskimo44 said:
I always thought Coffey was crazy smooth and effortless, with McDavid you can tell he's trying at least a bit. McDavid is a forward so his top speed is certainly more evident and i'd certainly guess he's faster. I think Bure could give him a run for his money though in terms of speed. Personally i'd say Coffey was the smoother skater. The best skater i've ever seen in relation to his peers though is still easily Bobby Orr.
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i never saw coffey in his prime other than 100 or so recorded games from the 80s that i watched religiously as a kid.

Bure would do the all star speed drills. gartner had the record and was the fastest in the league (90s)

i think mcdavid is faster than coffey. coffey, lemieux and weight are my favorite players of all time btw.

both coffey and mcdavid are/were fast

skating backwards; coffey could skate basically the same speed in reverse and laterally.

coffey was more....elegant. his lateral edge work was breathtaking...especially going lateral after reversing and then transitioning to forward progress. Really breathtaking stuff. ive never seen a more elegant skater. my family used to watch figure skating championships too and i still think Coffey is the most effortless and smooth skater my eyes have ever watched.

i never even saw coffey LIVE in his absolute prime...i started watching him in the 90s.
 
LaGu said:
McDavid. No question, I have seen both and to me there is no competition really. Coffey skates a bit like Karlsson, so smooth and the speed can be difficult to see because it is so fluid, but vs McD there is no real race imo..
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MAybe OP was asking who skates faster in reverse and laterally lol? Coffey seemed to be the same speed in any direction.
 
McDavid how is this close? There's a very good argument that Coffey is the greatest skater of all time due to his incredible edgework, versatility, smoothness etc, but he's not in the discussion for fastest of all time.
 
In a race around the rink? McDavid probably, but if Coffey got to start from the blue line, he would probably win :)
 
In my time I've seen a lot of fast skaters so I can't really tell who is the fastest of all time. Certainly MacDavid ranks up there with Orr, Gardner, Coffey etc.

McD certainly can do the most things going at high speed so he would rank as the most complete "fast" skater.
 
oobga said:
In a race around the rink? McDavid probably, but if Coffey got to start from the blue line, he would probably win :)
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A race around the rink doesn't necessarily translate into in-game speed. It's like comparing sprinters to 400m runners or someone like Donovan Bailey who was likely one of the fastest 150m runners (until Bolt right...).

My point is that there just simply isn't one standard, but ti's quite obvious the likes of Bure, McDavid, and Coffey had a very high in-game speed. Very tough to compare as they played in different era's and different positions and style.

I personally loved watching Bure live. He was a cherry picker, but kind of good at floating in and out over the blue line watching for possession changes.

One of the really fast guys I also liked watching is Gaborik. In the first 3 or 4 strides from a stop he is incredibly quick & dangerous. Coffey, on the other hand, was almost always in motion... tough to compare!
 
I remember on Coffey's retirement night he took a skate. I wanted us to sign him as he looked better than what we had that night on the ice.

With that being said, I really don't know overall. Did Coffey look better back in the day because the game was slower and others weren't that fast? I just know that today's game is pretty high paced and no one seems to be able to touch him when he gets a foot on them.
 
Coffey was an Aston Martin. Smooth, slick, almost floats along.
McDavid is a Ducati. Wicked acceleration, can make incredible moves in tight spaces, one look and you know that one is fast.
 
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