Craig Coxe


Craig Raymond Coxe is an American former professional ice hockey player. In addition to playing in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and the San Jose Sharks. Coxe also played two seasons of major league roller hockey in the RHI, after having grown up playing hockey in Tucson, Arizona, from 1969 to 1975 and in Laguna Beach, California. He lives in the suburbs of Saint Ignace, Michigan.

Playing career

Coxe was selected in fourth round in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. Unable to come to terms with Detroit, he became an unrestricted free agent after the 1983–84 season and signed with the Vancouver Canucks.
Coxe played for four different NHL teams over eight seasons in the NHL. Best known as an enforcer, Coxe played in 235 NHL regular season games, scoring 45 points and receiving 713 minutes in penalties. Coxe was suspended for the first three games of the 1987–88 NHL season for leaving the penalty box to fight Joe Paterson during a pre-season game against the Los Angeles Kings.
While perhaps best remembered as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, Coxe was claimed from the Canucks by the San Jose Sharks in the 1991 NHL Dispersal and Expansion Drafts and, on October 4, 1991, he scored the first goal in the Sharks' franchise history. It was the next-to-last goal that he scored in the NHL.

Coxe vs. Probert

Coxe was known as a willing fighter at the NHL level. Coxe's fights with Bob Probert are considered classics and have been referred to as "two of the biggest toe to toe slugfests of all time".

Coaching career

During the 1999–00 season, his final year as a player, Coxe was playing with the San Antonio Iguanas in the CHL. Before the season's end, Coxe was named the assistant coach for the team. The following season Coxe was named head coach of the CHL's Huntsville Tornado. Coxe was also the head coach of the CHL's El Paso Buzzards for their final season in 2002–03. During this season, the team's owner, Bill Davidson, had declared bankruptcy. Despite not being paid for over a month, and even though at times he was able to dress only 9 or 10 players, Coxe continued to coach the team to the season's end. He is currently the head hockey coach at Cheboygan Area High School in Cheboygan, Michigan. He is also the rink manager at the Ralph G. Cantile Arena in Cheboygan.

Personal life

Coxe is a native of Chula Vista, California. He also loves to play golf at his local country club in St. Ignace