Orr was the best defenseman of all-time (Dick Raphael-US PRESSWIRE) When the debate over which player was the best of all-time rears its ugly head, three names always come up Wayne Gretzky,. He was known as a non-conformist in an era, the 1950s, when conformity was king. Phil Esposito led the team with 13 goals and 14 assists, followed by none other than Orr who tallied nine goals and 11 helpers. Knee problems had taken their toll as Orr called it quits after playing his final game on Nov. 1, 1978, against the Vancouver Canucks. Sergei Zubov - Underrated. A big party started in Boston Garden. 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. Bourque was Boston's other great defenseman, a magisterial, super smooth stalwart who nonetheless has always been cloaked in a touch of shadow. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos. His best season saw him score 17 goals and 40 points for the Ottawa Senators in 1929-30. His eight points in 11 games so far this year have that looking possible. Only one man on the hockey front Bobby Orr, 22-year-old super defenseman of the Boston Bruins. Orr also earned his final All-Star selection. During the 40-second extra period, the Blues could barely keep the puck out of their own zone, opting to dump the puck down to Bostons blue line. Most of the players on this list come from 1967 on. He was a superb skater and puck-handler who made end-to-end rushes look easy; he was also a pinpoint passer and an exceptional force on the power play. A student of the game he was hard to rattle on the point, invariably making the right play when called upon. Niedermayer has stayed a little healthier. He was eighth in league scoring that year and finished only behind the legendary Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull on his own team. His stoicism was supplemented with a fitness level that allowed him to play 40 minutes a game late into his career. He accumulated 270 goals and 915 points in only 657 games. He showed all the toughness and spring steel durability that would be expected from Gordie Howe's son. he became the Jets best player leading the team in scoring from the back end three years in a row. 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. But wait they did. 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. It was a huge first season for Orr, leaving him with a Calder trophy and ever-growing fame. He scored more than 20 goals in a season five times. He was a three-time 20-goal scorer, a 10-time 50-point scorer (with his season high being 82 points) and twice recorded a plus/minus rating of plus-60 and higher. Coffey was the defenseman who broke Orrs record for most goals in a season with 48 in 1985-86 and just missed Orrs point record with 138 points that same year. Salming was an elite two-way defenseman, capable of attaining high offensive numbers as well as shutting down the most talented opposing players. Suter was an incredibly strong skater throughout his career. He was a first-team All-Star three times, a second-team All-Star three times and played in seven All-Star Games. Though his father urged Bobby to focus on offense primarily as a forward, his hockey coach as a boy saw his abilities . McDonald coached Orr in peewee and bantam hockey. 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. Housley was never treated very well by the fans in Calgary despite leading the team in assists during the strike curtailed 1994-95 season. Often a top 5 dman, but never top 1 or even top 2. Having made the trade for Esposito and with Orr already in the mix, the Bruins sensed better times ahead. When he retired in 1966, he was 20th all-time in scoring for any position. Campbell ends his article by pleading with Orr to change his position, hoping that he will be, once again, the player and teammate we all admire. It was just the third time they were forced to take a matchup by one goal during their historic playoff run. These are all factors that are keeping Housley out of the Hall of Fame for now. Zubov was a point a game player for the Penguins in the 1995-96 season and a key member of their playoff run, though they did lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Florida Panthers. Continue with Recommended Cookies. His hockey hero is widely regarded as the greatest blueliner ever, Bobby Orr. Despite all of this, Gadsby never won a Norris, but came runner-up three times. Lightboxes. Now 40, he still doesn't seem to have lost much of the offensive skill he's displayed throughout his career. An extra 20 years has got to mean a lot! This does tend to skew offensive statistics when compared to a player who only played defense, especially in the original six era. Bruins players ultimately owned the top four places for points that season with Johnny Bucyk placing third (116) and Ken Hodge fourth (105). Closest Norris Finish: Third (1987, 1993). Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux, seated next to each other, talking about their legacy. Still not convinced Bobby Orr is the greatest hockey player of all time? Duchesne is 20th in career scoring among all NHL defensemen. He lead the Leafs in goal scoring and points that playoff year. He had as rough a ride as any player I've ever seen play the game. He was an offensive star with Chicago and always near the top of the league in scoring among defensemen. Brad Park was one of the most talented two-way defensemen in history. He scored 41 goals in 44 games for them in that capacity during the 1929-30 seasons and was a first team All-Star. One photo caught his. Orrs regular season totals rest at 270 goals and 645 assists (915 points) in just 657 games. Some examples of his scoring prowess are: seven 20-goal-plus seasons (including one 31-goal season), 12 60-point-plus seasons (including a 66-point rookie season and a 97-point season), 338 career goals and 1,232 career points (both totals fourth all-time for defensemen, behind Bourque, Coffey and MacInnis). Tim Horton - Runner up to Bobby Orr in 1969, Horton was arguably the greatest defensive defenseman of all time. Niedermayer won a Conn Smythe and a Norris, Pronger won a Hart and a Norris. He just wasn't one of the great defensemen of all time. 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. In this list, I will recognize the 10 greatest players who were never able to take home the defenseman holy grail. Ken Dryden, Hall of Fame goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, summed it up best. Associated With. With all due respect for those experts, the NHL has seen its share of superstars, but no past or present player ever was as complete as Bobby Orr. After sweeping the Chicago Black Hawks in the second round, the Bruins went on to face the Blues. They increased that margin to a score of 16-4 during Game 3 as the teams headed into what would be the final matchup of the 1970 NHL Playoffs. The record of 20 goals would stand for 24 years until a young man named Bobby Orr came along. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher and Herb Brooks protege, played for some of the worst Red Wing teams of all time. Both teams fought for possession along the left boards before the puck squeaked out and a streaking Sanderson took a shot from the left face-off circle which also missed the cage. Out of that group . Babych had a career high with 74 points in Winnipeg. When he scored 23 in 1997-98 with LA, he also won the James Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman that year. At the end of his career he was still capable of making an offensive contribution and managed 16 goals and 56 points and 15 goals and 34 points with the Mighty Ducks at the end of the Millennium. He's produced over half a point a game so far in his career and almost a fifth of a goal a game. Not content to be Wayne Gretzky's teammate, swift-skating Oiler defenseman Paul Coffey suddenly is getting himself compared to Bobby Orrand not unfavorably, either. 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. Al MacInnis developed into a complete offensive defenseman as his career progressed, but it was his shot that got him to the NHL. That was second on the team in playoff scoring only to Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. In these cases I'm relying on anecdotal evidence. Douglas Orr, the father of hockey great Bobby Orr, has died. Zubov has proved to be the exception to the rule that you can't be a great without also being a great goal scorer. Bourque is one of the all-time great NHL defensemen, winning the Norris Trophy five times. The following year Turnbull lead a Salming-less Leaf team past the Kings and to an upset of the heavily favoured New York Islanders in the second round of the playoffs. Ray Bourque would be next with five wins. He was a late season addition in 1993-94 and had six goals and 15 points in their run to the Stanley Cup finals versus the New York Rangers. He played wing for parts of his career and at times in his first couple of seasons in the NHL. He was the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Detroit with 19 goals and 60 points. The young defenseman was already turning heads with his ability to score goals and win fights. He moved east-west but was constantly looking for the spot where he could move north south and he invariably found it. 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. Iafrate was rushed into the league by a desperate Leaf team in 1984. He then managed six goals in six games as the Capitals lost to the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. Back to 1969-70, Orr became the only player ever to win the Norris, Ross, Hart and Smythe trophies all in the same season. He played in the AHL for a time, but finished his career with the St. Louis Blues at the age of 44. His obvious offensive skills were an immediate boon to the Devils. He had 12 points in 20 games the next year when they fell short. When we speak of the greats of ice hockey, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau enter into the conversation. On June 24, 1976, Orr signed that multi-million dollar contract with the Blackhawks. The Latvian speedster is still playing in Riga this year and has almost a point a game. Find the perfect bobby orr bruins stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Success on that stage propelled him to greater success in the NHL. The talented Chelios hasn't scored 10 goals in an NHL season since 1996-97 with Chicago. The most productive years of his career were overshadowed by . Hockey. Far from a one-season wonder, Orr was the first defenseman to score 30 goals in a season (1969-70), then the first to notch 40 (1974-75). Orr invented the offensive defenceman." "Orr did it all and at top speed. He took home the Hart, Norris, Art Ross, and Conn Smythe Trophies and his first Stanley Cup . Dave Babych was a big point man in Hartford, Winnipeg and Vancouver. he also scored 21 goals that year breaking 20 for the first time. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978). During 82 playoff games he had 77 points and 23 goals. MacInnis is the third-highest scoring defenseman in NHL history. His legacy isn't complicated. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. He was incredible offensively and defensivelyon the power play, shorthanded, in the playoffs. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1983, 1986, 1987). You see this number, and all of a sudden you get fired up.". The Ducks look to be hoping his numbers with them will closer to the .686 points per game he's managed since coming back from Slovakia. 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. For Orr, 1974-75 was a season of "lasts" his last full season as a player, his last full season with the Bruins and his last season playing with Phil Esposito. Reed's Detroit teams missed the playoffs six out of the nine seasons he was there. Larry Robinson was the youngest and the best of the big three defenseman that patrolled the blueline for the Montreal Canadiens in the 70's and 80's. He was a great skater and playmaker with a very useful point shot. He scored over .7 points per game for his entire career and almost a fifth of a goal per game. Grandfather Robert Orr, an immigrant from Northern Ireland, played professional soccer. He added 26 goals and 66 assists in eight postseason runs and was a two-time Stanley Cup winner for the Boston Bruins. The Cup was a result of Orrs most memorable moment his flying goal. He started playing from an early age, and his exemplary defense skills made him join the 'Metro Junior A League' as a junior with . Coffey was also one of those rare offensive lights who managed to be a point a game player in the playoffs. 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. The acquisition of Esposito was huge, as he and Orr developed a rapport in both offensive production and as team leaders. (from Former Haverhill newsman captured Orrs famous flight, Eagle-Tribune, 05/11/2010) He was forever remembered as a superhero in the eyes of Bruins fans. His point totals weren't quite as glowing and so he ends up here on the list of top offensive defensemen. Though injuries limited Orr to 46 games in the 1967-68 season, he still earned an All-Star berth and the first of his eight James Norris Memorial trophies as the leagues top defenseman. Wherever he went Brown upgraded his new teams power play. A second deal was worked out with the Imlach coached Toronto Maple Leafs that Kelly accepted. Last Name Orr #1. Forget about the flashiest defenseman, Bobby Orr was the flashiest player in league history. Boyle blossomed almost immediately in Tampa Bay when exposed to the talent in the lineup there. He then circled behind the net and stood patiently to theright of the goal. He was drafted eighth overall by the Bruins in 1979, playing in Boston for 21 seasons. Chambers: Wayne Gretzky is right about Cale Makar. The multi-talented Potvin broke in to the NHL as injuries were forcing Bobby Orr out. Ray Bourque won five James Norris Memorial trophies in his career, slotting him behind only Orr and Doug Harvey. 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