Bobby Orr

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Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Pro clubs	Boston Bruins Chicago Black Hawks
Nationality	Canada
Born	March 20, 1948 (1948-03-20) (age 61), Parry Sound, ON Canada
Pro career	1966 – 1978
Hall of Fame, 1979

Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, OC (born March 20, 1948) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player. A defenceman, he is considered to be one of the greatest hockey players of all time.^[1][2] He played his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Boston Bruins, with the exception of two brief seasons with the Chicago Black Hawks.

Orr won two Stanley Cup championships with the Bruins in 1970 & 1972 and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP both years. Winning a record eight Norris Trophies as the league's best defenceman, Orr is often credited for revolutionizing his position.^[3] He remains the only defenceman to have won the league scoring title with two Art Ross Trophies and holds the record for most points and assists in a single-season by a defenceman.

After his retirement, he became a player agent, a position he holds today.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Born in Parry Sound, Ontario, Orr displayed his hockey talents at a very early age. He started skating and playing shinny at age four. He was discovered by the Boston Bruins at a bantam tournament in Ontario, prompting the club to invest $1,000 to sponsor his team and earn his rights.^[3] He was signed by the Bruins at age 12 and as a 14-year-old, played for the Oshawa Generals in the junior league Ontario Hockey Association, competing against eighteen-, nineteen- and twenty-year-olds; National Hockey League rules dictated that he could not join the Boston Bruins before reaching eighteen. In his third season, Orr led the Generals to the OHA championship, winning the J. Ross Robertson Cup, and competing in the Memorial Cup Final in 1966. In his final season with Oshawa he averaged two points a game. Prominent Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson negotiated his first contract with the Bruins, a $25,000 salary at a time when the typical maximum rookie salary was $8,000.^[3] At the time it made Orr the highest-paid player in league history.

[edit] Bruins Career

In his first professional season, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's most outstanding rookie. Late in the season, however, he missed nine games with a knee injury — presaging such woes through his career — when Detroit Red Wings defenceman Marcel Pronovost checked him into the boards. While the perennially cellar-dwelling Bruins finished in last place that season, Orr sparked a renaissance that propelled the Bruins to make the playoffs the following twenty-nine straight seasons. New York Rangers defenceman Harry Howell, the winner of the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenceman in Orr's rookie year, famously predicted that he was glad to win when he did, because "Orr will own this trophy from now on."^[3]

An injury to his right knee limited Orr to just 46 games in the 1968 season, but he nonetheless won the first of eight straight Norris trophies. In 1970, he did the unthinkable, doubling his scoring total from the previous season to score 120 points, six shy of the league record and becoming the first (and to date, only) defenceman in history to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer. Besides the Norris and Art Ross, Orr also captured the first of his three consecutive Hart Trophies as regular-season MVP and later won the Conn Smythe Trophy for his playoff heroics, being the only player in history to win four major NHL awards in one season. He went on to lead the Bruins in a march through the playoffs that culminated on May 10, 1970, when he scored one of the most famous goals in hockey history to give Boston its first Stanley Cup in 29 years. The subsequent image of a horizontal Orr flying through the air, his arms raised in victory—as he shot he had been tripped by Blues' defenseman Noel Picard while watching the puck pass by goaltender Glenn Hall—became a prize-winning photograph and is arguably the most famous and recognized hockey image of all time.

Bobby Orr scoring "The Goal" against the St. Louis Blues, winning the 1969–70 Stanley Cup.

The following year, 1971, in a season where the powerhouse Bruins shattered dozens of league offensive records, Orr finished second in league scoring while setting records that still stand for points in a season by a defenceman and for plus/minus (+124) by any position player. Orr's Bruins were heavy favourites to repeat as Cup champions, but were upset by the Montreal Canadiens and their rookie goaltender Ken Dryden. Orr led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup again in 1972, leading the league in scoring in the playoffs and scoring the championship-winning goal en route to his second Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

His knee problems would take an increasing toll after 1973. Despite being limited by knee injuries which would later force him to retire early, he continued to dominate the National Hockey League during his career, leading the Bruins to another first place league finish and the Stanley Cup Final in 1974. In a shortened career, he still won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's most outstanding defenceman eight times, more than any other player in NHL history.

In 1976, despite several knee operations that left him playing in severe pain, Orr was named the most valuable player in the Canada Cup international competition.

[edit] Free agency, and the move to Chicago

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At the end of the 1976 season, the Bruins offered Orr one of the most lucrative contracts in sports history, including over 18% ownership in the Bruins organization. However, Eagleson, who by this time was doubling as Orr's agent and executive director of the NHLPA, falsely told Orr that the Chicago Black Hawks had a better deal.^{[citation needed]} Conventional wisdom in NHL circles has long held that Eagleson never told Orr about the Bruins' offer of part-ownership.^{[citation needed]} That is belied, however, by Eagleson's public disclosure of the Bruins' ownership offer - for example, the day before Orr signed with Chicago, Eagleson was quoted in the Toronto Star as saying "[Boston] offered a five-year deal at $925,000 or 18.6 percent ownership of the club in 1980." Then on June 9, 1976, after Orr signed with Chicago, Eagleson told the Toronto Globe and Mail that "Orr was to receive $925,000 in cash payable in June 1980. That was to be a cash payment or involve Orr's receiving 18.6 percent of the Bruins stock."^[4] Years later, it emerged that Eagleson had very good relations with Black Hawks owner Bill Wirtz.

Orr subsequently signed with Chicago, but his injuries rendered him too severely hurt to play effectively, and, after playing in only 26 games over the next three seasons, retired in 1979. Famously, he never cashed a Chicago pay check, stating that he was paid to play hockey and would not accept a salary if he wasn't playing.^{[citation needed]}

Orr retired having scored 270 goals and 645 assists in 657 games, adding 953 penalty minutes. At the time of his retirement, he was the leading defenceman in league history in goals, assists and points, 10th overall in assists and 19th in points. The only players in league history scoring more points per game than Orr are Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy.

[edit] Style of play

Orr inspired the game of hockey with his command of the two-way game, which was unique for a defenceman. Defencemen with goal-scoring ability were not common in the NHL prior to his arrival. Orr was unique in that he could score goals as well, and he influenced countless defencemen who followed him. His speed, most notably a rapid acceleration, and his open ice artistry electrified fans as he set almost every conceivable record for a defenceman. In contrast to the style of hanging back defensive play common in the later 1950s and 1960s, Orr was known for his fluid skating and end-to-end rushing. Orr's rushing enabled him to be where the puck was, allowing him not only to score effectively but also defend when necessary. According to longtime Bruins' coach and general manager Harry Sinden, "Bobby became a star in the NHL about the time they played the National Anthem for his first game with us."^[5]

Orr also benefited from playing most of his career in Boston Garden, which was nine feet shorter and two feet narrower than the standard NHL rink. This suited his rushing style very well, as he was able to get from one end of the ice to the other faster than in a standard rink.^[6]

His style of play was also hard on his knees and shortened his career. "It was the way I played," Orr has said. "I liked to carry the puck and if you do that, you're going to get hit. I wish I'd played longer, but I don't regret it." Orr stated in 2008. "I had a style — when you play, you play all-out. I tried to do things. I didn't want to sit back. I wanted to be involved."^[7]

[edit] Retirement

By 1978, Orr had been through over a dozen knee surgeries, was having trouble walking and barely skated anymore. He ultimately came to the conclusion that he could no longer play and informed the Blackhawks that he was retiring. The NHL waived the mandatory three-year waiting period for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame and he was enshrined at age 31—the youngest player ever to be inducted, and one of only ten players to get in without having to wait three years. "Losing Bobby", said Gordie Howe, "was the greatest blow the National Hockey League has ever suffered." One of Orr's lasting legacies is that his popularity helped to cement the expansion of the NHL in America. His number 4 jersey was retired by the Bruins in January 1979. At the ceremony, the crowd at Boston Garden would not stop applauding and as a result, most of the evening's program had to be scrapped at the last second due to the constant cheering.

He has been honoured with his name recorded on Canada's Walk of Fame. A museum exists in his honour in his home town of Parry Sound called the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame. In 1979 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Orr later played a role in the exposure of Eagleson's misconduct over the years. He'd once considered Eagleson a "big brother", but broke with him after suspecting that Eagleson wasn't being truthful with him. In addition to misleading his clients about contract terms, Eagleson used the NHLPA pension fund to enrich himself. Eventually, Eagleson was convicted in American and Canadian courts and sentenced to 18 months in Canadian prison, of which he served six months. Orr was one of 19 former players who threatened to resign from the Hall of Fame if Eagleson wasn't removed. Facing certain expulsion, Eagleson resigned from the Hall soon after his conviction in 1998. Although Orr had been one of the highest-paid players in the NHL, Eagleson's misdeeds left him almost bankrupt.

Subsequent to his playing career, Orr served briefly as an assistant coach for Chicago, and as a consultant to the NHL and the Hartford Whalers, spending the bulk of his retirement years as a Boston-area bank executive. He is currently a player agent in Boston. For a number of years, Orr coached a team of top Canadian Hockey League players against a similar team coached by Don Cherry in the CHL Top Prospects Game.

Cherry, his former coach in Boston, considers Orr to be the greatest hockey player who ever lived.

[edit] Career achievements and facts

• Currently 6th all-time by a defenceman in career goals, 11th in career assists and 9th in points.
• Currently 51st overall in league history in career assists and 80th in career points.
• First defenceman to score 40 goals in a season (1974–75).
• Named to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
• Named to the Second All-Star Team in 1967.
• Awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1967.
• Awarded the James Norris Trophy in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
• Won the Art Ross Trophy in 1969–70 and 1974–75, the only defenceman to ever lead the league in scoring.
• Awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1970, 1971 and 1972.
• Awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1970 and 1972, the first two-time winner of the playoff MVP award.
• Stanley Cup winner in 1970 and 1972.
• Besides the Stanley Cup, captured the Norris Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, and Conn Smythe Trophy in 1970, the only player in history to win four major NHL awards in one season.
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975.
• Won Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year in 1970
• NHL Plus/Minus leader in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975, the most in history.
• Awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1975.
• Named the Canada Cup Tournament MVP in 1976.
• Awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy in 1979.
• Named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979.
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979, with the mandatory three-year waiting period waived, making him the youngest inductee at 31 years of age.
• Received Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award in 1970.
• Voted the greatest athlete in Boston history in the Boston Globe newspaper's poll of New Englanders, beating out Ted Williams, Bill Russell, Carl Yastrzemski and Bob Cousy.
• Voted the 2nd greatest hockey player of all time by an expert committee in 1997 by The Hockey News. He's behind only Wayne Gretzky and ahead of Gordie Howe as well as being named the top defenceman of all time.

[edit] Records

• Most points in one NHL season by a defenceman (139; 1970–71).
• Most assists in one NHL season by a defenceman (102; 1970–71).
• Highest plus/minus in one NHL season (+124; 1970–71).
• Tied for most assists in one NHL game by a defenceman (6; tied with Babe Pratt, Pat Stapleton, Ron Stackhouse, Paul Coffey and Gary Suter).
• Held record for most assists in one NHL season from 1971 to 1981 (102; broken by Wayne Gretzky and also bettered by Mario Lemieux), this is still a record for a defenceman.
• Held record for most goals in one NHL season by a defenceman from 1971 to 1986 (37 in 1971, broke own record in 1975 with 46; broken in 1986 by Paul Coffey with 48).

[edit] Career statistics

• Career highs in each statistical category are marked in boldface.

[edit] International play

• Was named to Canada's 1972 Summit Series team, but did not play in a game due to injury.
• Played for Team Canada in the 1976 Canada Cup.

International statistics

[edit] Player agent

ORR Hockey Group is a Boston based player agent majority owned by Orr and repurchased in February 2002. The group represents such surging young talent as Jason Spezza, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Marc Staal, Rick DiPietro, Nathan Horton, Jeff Carter, Steve Downie, Anthony Stewart, Tomáš Kaberle, and Colton Orr.

Spezza, when asked on the experience of having Orr as an agent, replied: "I don't think I have a true feeling for how great he is. I have so much respect for him. I watch him on tapes and it's just ridiculous how good he was compared to the guys he was playing against. He's a great guy and you don't even know it's Bobby Orr, the way he talks to you."^[8]

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

[edit] External links

• BobbyOrr.com Official Store Of Bobby Orr Sports Memorabilia
• Stockey Centre / Bobby Orr Hall of Fame Website
• Bobby Orr's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Bobby Orr's biography at Legends of Hockey