Coffey returns to Oilers coaching staff

Paul Coffey will be rejoining the Edmonton Oilers' coaching staff.

A boy from the bus is climbing back behind the Edmonton Oilers’ bench.

Paul Coffey, the team’s all-time top-scoring defenceman, returns to his role as an assistant to head coach Kris Knoblauch. He had guided the team’s blueliners the previous two seasons.

The 64-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer, who won three Stanley Cups as a player with the Oilers in the 1980s and one with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991, stepped down from Edmonton’s coaching staff last summer to resume his front-office role as special advisor to ownership and hockey operations.

“I have been in regular contact with Paul since last summer, and I believe we will benefit both as a team and as a staff from his return at this time,” Knoblauch said Wednesday in a team statement.

Coffey is expected to rejoin the team at practice on Friday. With him behind the bench, the Oilers averaged 2.78 goals-against per game. They sit at an average of 3.29 goals-against per game through 58 games this season.

“I’m excited to return and work alongside Kris and the entire staff,” Coffey said in the statement. “With 24 games left in the season, there is ample time to build on the many positives and build momentum for another long playoff run.”

Oilers players returned to the practice ice on Tuesday after a two-week break during the Winter Olympics. They return to National Hockey League action in a week on the road in Anaheim, Calif.