Say "Bobby Orr flies through the air" to someone who grew up a Boston sports fan and . His career stats are stunning. This included, but it wasn't limited to, three Hart Trophies, two Art Ross . Moreover, Orr helped make hockey more popular and helped make the Bruins a big draw both at home and on the road. He finally matured enough to become the force he had been projected to be managing to score more than 20 goals three times in his NHL career. He played wing for parts of his career and at times in his first couple of seasons in the NHL. Duchesne is 20th in career scoring among all NHL defensemen. I was really trying to get the puck on net, and I did.. Both times he won the James Norris trophy that season as he did in 1988-89 with the Canadiens. He has the second-most points per game for a defenseman in the playoffs with 97 in 95 games behind only Bobby Orr, who had 92 in 74 playoff games. Wednesday's events at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. are literally unprecedented. He was the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Detroit with 19 goals and 60 points. Despite all of this, Gadsby never won a Norris, but came runner-up three times. Tremendous defensive defenseman with an offensive upside. Howe's peak looks like it was about 21 years long. Bobby Hull was a great hockey player and a miserable human being. The talented Gonchar is the definitive power play quarterback, confident and creative at the point with a fine hard, accurate shot. Park was also named the best defenseman in the ground breaking series. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Had eight monster seasons with Calgary, including a Calder-winning rookie season and a 91-point season in which he finished third in Norris voting. "With Orr's exit, Boston fans felt as if a loved one had disappeared," Conway wrote. He spent a lot of his two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks injured, but when he did play for them he was phenomenal. This prompted many fans to look back at what legendary NHL defenseman Bobby Orr did months ago. Enterprise. During those first thirteen seasons he was part of four Stanley Cup winning teams. Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux, seated next to each other, talking about their legacy. Pisces Hockey Player #2. Without getting into the entire story, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the results of Octobers election from being certified. He was long overshadowed on a team full of future Hall of Famers. Likewise, earlier than that, slowly evolving offside rules and different rules for what constituted an assist severely limited what kind of statistically counted offensive contribution even the most skilled defenders could make. That resistance to conformity apparently fueled his offensive instincts. Free shipping for many products! Ray Bourque had nine seasons when he scored more than 20 or more goals. By his third season Borque was a point a game NHL defenseman. Nicklas Lidstrom is the best defenseman of his generation and one of the best of all time. A defenseman starts out behind his own net and skates through an entire team to score a goal. All rights reserved. First Name Bobby #14. Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Megna is in the midst of his best season with 12 points in 48 games for the Sharks while averaging more than 19 minutes per game. He and his mostly offensive skills won seven James Norris trophies as the league's best defenseman. He broke in with the Rangers scoring 31 points in 49 games as rookie. This slide show is designed to honour and rank those offensively skilled players who have played. Orr was great, he played 12 NHL seasons between the years 1966 and 1979. He then helped the Leafs beat the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs and then extend the eventual Stanley Cup losing Philadelphia Flyers to seven games in the second round. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2003-04 Upper Deck Trilogy Bobby Orr #8 Hockey Card NHL Boston Bruins Defenseman at the best online prices at eBay! During his last six seasons in the NHL he was racked with injuries which severely curtailed his offensive numbers and adversely effected his career averages. Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs the game headed to overtime. He scored over a quarter of a goal a game for an NHL best 410 career games. He scored well over a fifth of a goal a game in his NHL career and had almost .8 points per game for 929 regular season games. Boston did it in impressive style, too, beating the New York Rangers in six games in the quarterfinals, then sweeping the Black Hawks and St. Louis Blues. His .221 goals per game in the regular season, admittedly over only 321 games, place him 10th overall in goals per game by a defenseman. SEATTLE The Seattle Kraken acquired defenseman Jaycob Megna from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2023 fourth-round draft pick. Orr ushered in a new post original six era with a new look at an old position. That same year, Orr had his No. He was also an ageless wonder, as he played quality hockey right up until his death at the age of 44. Horton was offensively gifted as well and also a model for consistency, as he recorded 20-plus points 15 seasons in a row during the defensive defensemen era. He was traded to the Winnipeg Jets after eight seasons in Buffalo for Winnipeg icon Dale Hawerchuk. He played his only games in November 1975 after the Bruins already had traded Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers. But even in defeat, he remained humble and heroic. Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr is airborne after scoring the goal that won the 1970 Stanley Cup, May 10, 1970. Not only did Orr become the first and to this date, the only defenseman to win a scoring title, the Bruins thrived as a team en route to their first Stanley Cup title since 1941. He holds numerous Toronto team records including: most career regular-season assists (620), highest career plus/minus rating (plus-155) and most career regular-season goals and points by a defenseman (148 and 768). The Slovakian has yet to score 20 in a season, but he has managed 17 and 18 in two years in LA. He would go on to win it again with many of the same teammates in 1972, but there is something special about a players first championship especially when it is won in such a dramatic fashion. Not only was he one of the best at reading plays, he was also more than capable of contributing offensively. Bobby first played organized hockey at age 5, and soon showed an ability to skate faster than anyone else his age. "Gordie in my mind is the best that ever played the game. The addition of Steve Yzerman in 1983 was the beginning of the climb back to competence. 1966 Topps. Lapointe was named to the NHLs first All-Star team once and the second All-Star team three times. It was just the third time they were forced to take a matchup by one goal during their historic playoff run. He scored more than 20 goals in a season five times. During the playoffs he scored goals at a higher rate then in the regular season. Maybe he didnt want the media to run rampant with such a small footnote after all, the Bruins had just clinched the franchises first championship since 1941. The record held until Chicago Blackhawk star Pierre Pilote broke it with 59 points in 68 games in the 1964-65 season. He won the James Norris trophy in his last year in New Jersey. Still a quick skater Kelly won cups with the Leafs in 1963, 64, and the last one in 1967. Clancy made up for that by scoring. Still his .268 goals per game in that period makes him the sixth-best goals per game defenseman of all time among those defenseman who played at least 50 playoff games. Throw in the fact that the slap shot wasn't popularized until Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion had success with it in the early 1950's and it's easy to see why the offensive contribution from defensmen in those era's was often minimal. Orrs goal didnt just put an end to a 29-year Stanley Cup drought in Boston. Though the Bruins struggled with other problems en route to a last-place finish in the final season of a six-team NHL, Boston fans took a renewed interest in the team as home attendance at Boston Garden increased by 41,000 that season. After collecting the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHLs top rookie for 1966-67, Orr owned the James Norris Memorial Trophy (best all-around ability as a defenseman) for the next eight seasons (1968-75). He came in to the league as a 19 year old with the LA Kings and scored 16 goals and 76 points in his first NHL season. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1956, 1958, 1959). The high risk end of his game had him traded to Colorado where he helped them win the 1996 Stanley cup. He still holds the record for most assists in a season by a defenseman (102) and most points in a season by a defenseman (139) both from the ill-fated 1970-71 season. The Hall of Famer put up five seasons of 40 points or more with Chicago and. He's a player who could easily slip off this list with a couple of bad seasons. A revolutionary player who forever changed the role of defensemen, Orr is widely considered one of hockey's greatest players. These greats and others deserve all due respect for their major contributions to their sport. He was an good playmaker who also managed to score 20 goals or more in a season four times. He was no slouch as a defender either. His career featured five 20 goal or better seasons. Playing against the completely unknown Russian speedsters in the seminal Summit Series in 1972, Park was never at a loss. He is also the second-highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history, behind Mike Modano. BU's Thomas Whalen celebrates hockey great and the Big Bad Bruins of 1970 in new book. He skated like the wind and had one of the hardest slap-shots ever. He's had more success, winning a Cup with Pittsburgh, and still has the potential to put up some good offensive numbers for a few more years. Next year he scored 26 goals and had 64 points in 81 games. Paul Coffey was perhaps the fastest man ever to lace up skates. Salming was named to the NHL first All-Star team once, the second All-Star team five times and played in three All-Star Games. He was skilled with the puck and mobile for a big man but it was the shot that set him apart. Available for both RF and RM licensing. 4 took his first strides in the NHL during the 1966-67 season but, it was during Orrs prime that he dominated the league. He scored at least 20 goals in a season on two more occasions. His big offensive weapon was the point shot as was reflected in his almost a fifth of a goal a game he scored during his career. The physical Potvin was an abundantly talented skater, stick handler and playmaker. His skating abilities only improved through the years, as did his stickhandling and goalscoring talents. Orr picked up the loose puck, skated it to the red line and dumped it back into St. Louis zone. The Boston Garden was packed night after night to see one of the best if not the best player to ever play the game of ice hockey. He finished the postseason with 11 goals and 23 assists, a total of 34 points. Still in that time he's been an exemplary defenseman for Nashville both offensively and defensively. Orr earned MVP honors in that game as the East Division All-Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 win over the West Division All-Stars. Grandfather Robert Orr, an immigrant from Northern Ireland, played professional soccer. The Hall of Famer established himself as one of the greatest defensemen of the '50s and '60s. Clancy is now honoured by the King Clancy Memorial Trophy pictured above which is given every year to the NHL player who best shows leadership off and on the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. This all while he was 33 and 34. The sports spectrum in New England was dominated by basketball at the time, as the Celtics had already brought home 11 championships by the time 1970 rolled around. I looked back, and I saw it go in, so I jumped.. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1964, 1969). There is obviously no argument that Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the history of the Red Wings. Equally amazing to me if . If it had gone by me, its a two-on-one, said Orr. Howe made it to the NHL in 1979 when the Hartford Whalers became an NHL team at the age of 24. Photo by Ray Lussier/The Boston Herald via AP, File. Playing with Ovechkin in Washington certainly seems like the right place to do it. 1968 O-Pee-Chee. Francis "King" Clancy was a diminutive defenseman in an era when assists were only handed out for a key play that lead to a goal. Al, in his injury-shortened 799-game career averaged .19 goals per game, which puts him in the top 30 goal scorers per game of all defenseman. Impressively, he amassed more than 100 points for a sixth consecutive (and last) season. Teams: Buf, Win, Stl, Cal, NJ, Wsh, Cal, Chi, Tor. 9. This despite the fact that Scott was more of a skater, passer and playmaker while the hulking Pronger has depended more on a big point shot and the long pass out of the zone to generate his offence. His .217 goals per game in the playoffs put him among the top 10 defensemen who had played at least 50 playoff games. Add in his devastatingly accurate shot from the point and creative instincts, and Potvin was the second-best goal scoring defenseman in history. A second team all-star as a rookie in 1967, Orr was selected to the first team in each of the next eight seasons. As knee surgeries limited him to just 10 games, Orr endured a most frustrating 1975-76 season. His 15 points during Chicagos 1961 Cup run led the team. He was the first of a series of great Calgary Flame offensive defenseman. Housley was never treated very well by the fans in Calgary despite leading the team in assists during the strike curtailed 1994-95 season. As a young player he got to play with and learn from the legendary Brad Park. Lightboxes. As a sophomore he scored 18 goals and 67 points in the regular season. Orr also earned his final All-Star selection. They beat the Flames, the Atlanta Flames, two straight in a best of three series. He was one of only two great offensive defenseman to be more than a point a game player for his entire career. In a 12-year NHL career that began in 1966, he revolutionized the role of the defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30. Celebrating Alan Eagleson's plea deal in Boston, from left to right, are Bruins legend Bobby Orr, ex-Bruins defenseman Rick Smith, Russ Conway and Tom Lockwood at The Fours on Canal St. in. Create an account. At 5'10" and a solid 205 pounds, Wilfred McDonald was known in hockey circles simply as Bucko.Although an all-star defenseman in his own right, many best remember Bucko McDonald as the man responsible for turning Bobby Orr into a defenseman. His prowess was recognized through-out the league. Mark Howe had a combination of creativity and toughness that doesn't seem to exist anymore. His legacy isn't complicated. He comes out behind only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Denis Potvin, and Paul Reinhart for goals per game in the playoffs. During the 1998 playoff run he had 15 points in 22 playoff games and won his second cup in a row with the Red Wings at the grand old age of 37. His offensive credentials were notarized the next year when he scored five goals versus the Red Wings in a 9-1 rout. He used his fearless defensive ability to help the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup finals three times, but unfortunately, they lost each time. Pre-Orr a player with Park's obvious defensive skills would never have been given the free rein that coaches and general managers gave defensemen after Bobby Orr made it evident what a talented defenseman could do for his team offensively. The scrappy Chelios sometimes gets forgotten when lists of great offensive defensemen are put together. Ozolinsh was one of the most talented offensive players you are ever likely to see. He got the 14 during the Stanley Cup winning run despite having to come back from a knee injury to play in the final. He suffered a nasty injury from a collision with a net the next year that degraded his offensive ability. Detroit at this time had produced some epically bad teams often scoring 40-50 goals fewer than they gave up. Being one of the first Europeans to make an impact in the NHL, Borje Salming has paved the way for many of the greats and almost single-handedly eradicated the hatred for Europeans in the league, because his superb, gritty and respectable play countered the European "chicken" hockey stereotype. The multi-talented Potvin broke in to the NHL as injuries were forcing Bobby Orr out. He favoured long passes out of his own zone after drawing the forecheckers into him. Hatcher managed 24 goals with Washington during the 1990-91 season and an amazing 34 goals for the Capitals during 1993-94. Injuries ended his career with the North Stars much too early. He won the James Norris trophy with 16 goals and 49 points in 62 games in 1953-54 the first time it was given out. He was the premiere offensive defenseman. He also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as regular-season Most Valuable Player three consecutive seasons (1969-70 through 1971-72). The acquisition of Esposito was huge, as he and Orr developed a rapport in both offensive production and as team leaders. Even at the end of his career in Detroit Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a year and 40-50 points. Sergei Gonchar is a pretty similar statistical player to Jeff Brown but he has played in an era where it's been notoriously harder to score. His plus-minus rating for those games resides at a whopping plus-582. It's one of the great moments in sports history: Bobby Orr, celebrating the overtime goal that, in 1970, brought the Stanley Cup to Boston for the first time in 29 years. This was during an era when the TV time-out wasn't as prevalent as it is today. Orr was certainly an unbelievable player, so was Howe. His .602 points per game is impressive and indicative of an able playmaker. Murphy was a three quarters of a point a game man throughout his long NHL career. He played 10 seasons in Minnesota producing a Sergei Zubov like .725 points per game. Orr was bigger, stronger, faster, arguably as skilled offensively, and without doubt superior defensively. It is claimed by some that Horton was the first player in the NHL to use the slap shot as a reliable offensive weapon. If the James Norris was available, Eddie would have won four at least and probably would have equalled or surpassed Orrs eight and Harveys seven and Lidstroms six James Norris trophies if the award had been given out when he played. Thats the kind of teammate Mark Fraser and a lot of other people are looking for right now.. He then managed six goals in six games as the Capitals lost to the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. Phil Esposito led the team with 13 goals and 14 assists, followed by none other than Orr who tallied nine goals and 11 helpers. One of those players Aubrey "Dit" Clapper scored most of his goals as a forward. The same way teams were forced to design defenses around Brett Hull, they forced to rush the point to keep Al MacInnis from getting that cannon off. He won three James Norris trophies in a row from 1963 to 1965. Chambers: Wayne Gretzky is right about Cale Makar. The 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr rookie hockey card is his only rookie card and one of the most recognizable in the hobby. Potvin broke into the league with 17 goals and 54 points in 77 games to win the Calder trophy. Its time for Orr to step up and to speak out against Trump and his sycophants just as forcefully as he did two months ago. The hall of fame end to end rusher, was the second best offensive defenseman of his era behind only Doug Harvey. Mike Green with his speed and his shot is the only defenseman I've seen in the last decade with a chance to sneak into the top 10 offensive defensemen of all time. Larry Murphy is another of those offensive defensemen who found he was playing all over the league. Forced to play in Sweden and Finland for four years after graduating from university, Brian Rafalski was finally given a chance by the New Jersey Devils. He had four seasons where he got more than 90 points, another six where had between 80 and 89 points and a further two seasons where his point total was in the 70's. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1977, 1980). He was a key component in two Stanley Cup runs with the Canadiens in 1986 when they won the cup and in 89 when they lost. You name it, Howe was great at it. The greatest era in Bruins history was about to begin. His natural athletic ability and a will to compete propelled to be one of the NHL's best offensive defensemen of his era. The answer to this crossword puzzle is 8 letters long and begins with C. Below you will find the correct answer to Bobby __ one of the greatest midfieldersCrossword Clue, if you need more help finishing your crossword continue your navigation and try our search function. Robinson managed just under .7 points per game over a 20 year career. He had 50 points in 66 regular season games and then 199 in 22 playoff games. During the Boston Bruins 1969-70 seasonif(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_3',823,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3-0');,Orr netted a remarkable 33 goals and 87 assists in 76 games. Orr, widely regarded as the greatest defenseman to ever play, agreed. Coffey was also one of those rare offensive lights who managed to be a point a game player in the playoffs. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Orr would be the first person to say pshaw, what-the-heck, forget-all-the-valentines routine . The smallish Housley was as talented a puck moving defenseman as has ever been in this league. Cale Makar Quickly Gaining Reputation as Great Defenseman. Bobby Orr - The man many consider the greatest hockey player ever - and certainly the greatest defenseman in NHL history - Orr played his first two seasons with the Boston Bruins, winning eight straight Norris Trophies, three Hart Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies, and a pair of Art Ross Trophies as the only defenseman ever to lead the . He's been a key member of the four Stanley Cup winning Detroit teams in the past 15 years winning the Conn Smythe in 2001-02 with 16 points in 23 games. Ray Borque burst on to the scene in Boston with 17 goals, 65 points and a Calder Memorial trophy as the league's best rookie. Pairded with Earl Seibert, Hollett . He had 22 goals and 85 points on that offensive juggernaut that year and thought he was on his way to winning his third cup in a row in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Reed during his last season in Detroit the Red Wings gave up 415 goals while scoring only 266 and winning only 17 of 80 games. Horton was described by his opponents as one of the strongest players and heaviest hitters to set foot in the NHL. Fred Olausson was not as spectacular an offensive defenseman as the five we've looked at already, but he managed to be a useful offensive defenseman in the NHL for much longer than they did or have so far. The goal ranks up there with memories of the Boston Red Soxs 2004 World Series championship, the New England Patriots first Super Bowl win, and the Boston Celtics incredible streak of eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. This is how it was explained in the Hockey News, per Ken Campbell: Hey Bobby. His .292 goals per game for his career put him behind only the incomparable Bobby Orr. Knee problems had taken their toll as Orr called it quits after playing his final game on Nov. 1, 1978, against the Vancouver Canucks. He was considered one of the sport's greatest players. Gretzky himself said he would have voted for Orr, or possibly for Howe. He retired, early for a Howe at age 40. If you ask the average hockey fan, who was the greatest defenseman to ever play the game of hockey, most would say it was Bobby Orr. So I got a little lucky there.Blues defenseman Jean-Guy Talbot also took a one-handed swipe at the puck as Orr skated it to the corner, proceeding to dish it to Sanderson who was still waiting below the goal line. Orr also remains the only defenseman to win the Art Ross Trophy as league scoring leader, which he did twice (1969-70 and 1974-75), and the Lester B. Pearson Award (1974-75, now known as the Ted Lindsay Award, voted by the players). To end rusher, was the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Murphy. The 14 during the 1990-91 season and a lot of his game had him to... Detroit Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a year and 40-50 points series... Favoured long passes out of his era behind only Bobby Orr as talented puck! 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And Orr developed a rapport in both offensive production and as team leaders was scoring! Organized hockey at age 5, and soon showed an ability to skate faster than anyone else age! Make hockey more popular and helped make the Bruins already had traded Esposito...