He spent a lot of his two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks injured, but when he did play for them he was phenomenal. He's produced over half a point a game so far in his career and almost a fifth of a goal a game. Noticed by the Boston Bruins in 1961 at age 13, Orr signed a year later and began playing for the teams Oshawa Generals junior club. Available for both RF and RM licensing. 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. He is a five-time 20-goal scorer, a seven-time 50-assist scorer and a five-time 70-point scorer, whose season high is 85 points. THATS the kind of teammate you want??? Hockey Player #22. He was famous for his ability to steal the puck from attacking forwards. 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. His impressive offensive totals increase in the playoffs and he's almost twice the goal scorer in the playoffs that he is in the regular season. Injuries chipped away at the hard playing Suter but he managed to maintain an offensive presence almost to the end of his career. As knee surgeries limited him to just 10 games, Orr endured a most frustrating 1975-76 season. Orrs ability to pace the Bruins offense helped him surpass 100 points in six seasons, including league highs of 120 in 1969-70 and 135 for 1974-75. 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 list of defenders in NHL history with two Norris Trophies and a Conn Smythe Trophy includes only Bobby Orr, Larry Robinson, Brian Leetch, Nicklas Lidstrom and Duncan Keith. He's a slick skating playmaker who always seems perfectly calm as he makes the play. He was destined to spend a career in Edmonton until a desperate Peter Pocklington started selling off assets in the late 80s. Pisces Hockey Player #2. The record of 20 goals would stand for 24 years until a young man named Bobby Orr came along. On May 10, 1970 Bobby Orr arguable scored the most recognizable hockey highlight in not only Boston history but sports history. He scored more than 20 goals three times in the NHL though that first season he was mostly a winger. He played his only games in November 1975 after the Bruins already had traded Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers. Orr, a 1979 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie in the NHL in 1966-67; the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the League eight times (still a record) in. The game took place on May 10, 1970 Mothers Day. Only Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky have ever had better assist totals in a season. Orr combined speed, strength, skill and hockey savvy at both ends of the ice. Published on January 8, 2021 at 4:43 a.m. Calgary, Alberta, native Cale Makar has played three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and each season he's been getting better and . "When he began to move the sensation was unique: All the Canadiens began backpedaling in a small panic, like beachgoers sighting a coming monster wave," Dryden once said. 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. Then, in Orrs own words, Derek gave me a great pass and when I got the pass I was moving across. His best statistical season in the league came while playing with Mario Lemieux and company in 1992-93. That's what made him so different. He scored 31 goals once. Rhino only broke the 20 goal barrier once but 133 goals in 648 games have him scoring more than a fifth of a goal per game. Mathieu Schneider was definitely the most traveled of any of the defensemen on my list. He suffered of course in comparison because no one was Bobby Orr. His stoicism was supplemented with a fitness level that allowed him to play 40 minutes a game late into his career. There is obviously no argument that Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the history of the Red Wings. 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. Unfortunately he only played 80 or more games four times in a season, in his 15-year NHL career. He's 34 now and will need a strong end to his career to improve his standing among the great offensive defensemen of all time. 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. Salming endured what was at times brutal treatment with a stoicism and toughness that helped pave the way for every other Swedish player who has come to North America. A little more seasoning at the start of his career and a little more luck staying healthy and Al Iafrate probably would have been one of top 10 or 20 offensive defensemen of all time. Olausson's best season saw him score 20 goals in 1991-92 in Winnipeg. Ray Bourque would be next with five wins. Zubov moved on to Dallas to be the power play quarterback there and help them win a Cup in 1999. He quarterbacked one of the greatest power-plays of all time in Montreal, featuring himself and Geoffrion on the points and Beliveau, the Rocket and Bert Olmstead. That was the only year Phil scored more than 30 goals in an NHL season. Orrs goal didnt just put an end to a 29-year Stanley Cup drought in Boston. He won three James Norris trophies in a row from 1963 to 1965. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1956, 1958, 1959). Ray Bourque won five James Norris Memorial trophies in his career, slotting him behind only Orr and Doug Harvey. Next year he scored 26 goals and had 64 points in 81 games. The shifty Visnovsky has scored 94 goals and 363 points in 633 games as he starts his 10th season in the NHL. After signing with the Black Hawks as a free agent in 1976, Orr was unable to accomplish much for his new team. A powerplay quarterback his entire career, he scored at least 20 in a season twice, once in Montreal as a 24 year old and once with Detroit when he was 36. In a 12-year NHL career that began in 1966, he revolutionized the role of the defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30. I'd like to see him get a chance to do it. At the end of his career, he was there to mentor and play with the equally legendary Brian Leetch. He scored over .7 points per game for his entire career and almost a fifth of a goal per game. Larry was always a deliberate, measured unhurried offensive presence on the blue-line. He was long overshadowed on a team full of future Hall of Famers. 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. His last three playoff runs he's scored 14, 14 and 12 points. He was another of a wave of talented American-born offensive defensemen who grew watching Bobby Orr play hockey. January 27, 2017, 9:36 PM. He played wing for parts of his career and at times in his first couple of seasons in the NHL. He accumulated 270 goals and 915 points in only 657 games. Paul "Rhino" Reinhart was an Atlanta Flame rookie who made the jump with the organization to Calgary. He is the best defenseman since Bobby Orr. During New York's Stanley Cup winning playoff run, Zubov put up five goals and 19 points in 22 playoff games. After a stint in the minors during his second season, Turnbull put his offensive game together in his third year, scoring 20 goals and 56 points. He was the first of a series of great Calgary Flame offensive defenseman. In 22 seasons he managed to play for 10 different teams and the Montreal Canadiens twice. Hatcher managed 24 goals with Washington during the 1990-91 season and an amazing 34 goals for the Capitals during 1993-94. Just like the citys hero, hockey itself took flight in Boston. However it fits in your life as a sports fan, what Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins did on May 10, 1970, still resonates 50 years later. 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 one of only two great offensive defenseman to be more than a point a game player for his entire career. He was a three-time 20-goal scorer and two-time 80-point scorer. He had trouble translating that into offense and then injury cut short what could have been one of the great offensive careers of a defenseman. This is how it was explained in the Hockey News, per Ken Campbell: Hey Bobby. Orr ushered in a new post original six era with a new look at an old position. His 11 points in 10 playoff games were second on the team only to Darryl Sittler's 12. Some of these "comparisons" are too funny! He was also an aggressive checker and shot-blocker. That didn't detract from the fact that he was a skilled offensive contributor early on. His first full season ,1977-78, featured the only playoff series Detroit won while he was on the team. It left a Canadian public wondering what a healthy Orr might have done in that series. Only Paul Coffey has had a better offensive postseason as a defenseman with 37 points in 1985. His best point total was in 2006-07 when he had 69 with the Ducks. He played 37 games that first season and had 23 points. Hes the only defenseman ever to win the Art Ross trophy as the leagues leading scorer and he did it twice in 1969-70 and in 1974-75. Again only he, Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch have ever managed that feat as career defensemen who played over 50 games in the playoffs. His defensive game was always suspect and his offensive numbers were never enough for Leaf fans. I looked back, and I saw it go in, so I jumped.. Al MacInnis was renowned for having the hardest shot in hockey, ever. Helping lead Canada to the title with seven assists in two goals in seven games earned Orr tournament MVP honors. With what has transpired over the past months (not to mention what the President has done over the course of his life) and especially what took place at the Capitol on Wednesday, fans of the great player, including former NHLer Matt Fraser are demanding that Orr repudiates his endorsement to Trump. Tremendous defensive defenseman with an offensive upside. It's this more than anything that has me place Chris Pronger one step higher on my list of best offensive defensemen. 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. As I skated across, Glenn had to move across the crease and had to open his pads a little. Associated With. Steven Ellis. Coffey was also one of those rare offensive lights who managed to be a point a game player in the playoffs. Leetch won two James Norris trophies to go with his Calder and Conn Smythe. Create an account. 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. Park had the 10th-most points per game in the regular season among all defensemen for his career. Greschner provided continuity for the Rangers during the 80's. 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. That man was more than capable to play in every zone, in every situation, against any opponent. Bobby Orr is a former Canadian ice hockey player, counted among the best players of the game. Here are 21 reasons why Orr is hockey's GOAT. He and Al MacInnis became one of the best power play point combinations in hockey. His skill as a defenseman let him become the first NHLer to have a 20-year career in the league, all with the Bruins. Wherever he went Brown upgraded his new teams power play. 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. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1977, 1980). Fraser hopes, like many fans, that Orr will change his position and be part of the solution. Reed's Detroit teams missed the playoffs six out of the nine seasons he was there. 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. Bobby Orr, byname of Robert Gordon Orr, (born March 20, 1948, Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada), Canadian American professional ice hockey player who was the first defenseman to lead the National Hockey League (NHL) in scoring. Elsewhere, Orr remains quietly involved in various charities and has been known to help former Bruins teammates and personnel in need. He was a better skater and play maker early in his career but even at the end he could shoot and he could hit. Housley was never treated very well by the fans in Calgary despite leading the team in assists during the strike curtailed 1994-95 season. Wednesday's events at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. are literally unprecedented. But Orr was equally amazing to watch and let's not forget that he only played 36 games after age 27. Now, at least five people are dead and President Trump is under real threat of being removed from office prior to Joe Bidens inauguration on January 20th. In 1985-86, Coffey scored 48 goals, breaking Orr's record for goals by a defenseman (46, set in the 1974-75 . An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. He had a couple big playoff runs scoring 19 points in 23 games for Colorado when they won the Cup in 2001. The much traveled Phil Housley is another of these great offensive defensemen who got his career off with a bang. Zubov was named to the NHLs second All-Star team in 2006 and played in three All-Star Games over the course of his career. Known as a devastating hitter, shutdown defenseman and long-time Devils captain, Stevens memorable and iconic career spanned 22 seasons and 1,635 games, and it's hard to believe that in that much time, he never won a Norris Trophy. But there is one campaign that seems to rise above the rest. Orr enjoyed an outstanding junior career, and the Bruins who last qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1959 had high expectations for the 18-year-old when he joined them in 1966. Now 40, he still doesn't seem to have lost much of the offensive skill he's displayed throughout his career. Howe was a force to be reckoned with in the 1980s. By his third season Borque was a point a game NHL defenseman. He quarterbacked the power play in Tampa Bay and he was able to keep up with the high priced talent that was there. The most productive years of his career were overshadowed by . He comes out behind only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Denis Potvin, and Paul Reinhart for goals per game in the playoffs. He was a point a game player for the next 12 years. He's ninth in career points by a defenseman. Only Coffey's 37 points is a better postseason total among defensemen. 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. He has 202 goals in what has been a 1002 game career. He then circled behind the net and stood patiently to theright of the goal. As a young player he got to play with and learn from the legendary Brad Park. 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. He was seventh in the league in assists that year. Now here they are, the 50 greatest offensive defensemen of all time. United States diplomat who did the groundwork for creating the United Nations (1871-1955) United States naval officer who commanded the `Constitution' during the War of 1812 and won a series of brilliant victories against the British (1773-1843) 3 letter answer (s) to hockey great bobby ORR Canadian hockey player (born 1948) BU's Thomas Whalen celebrates hockey great and the Big Bad Bruins of 1970 in new book. He was traded to the Winnipeg Jets after eight seasons in Buffalo for Winnipeg icon Dale Hawerchuk. But wait they did. Orr invented the offensive defenceman." "Orr did it all and at top speed. The animated Zubov is one of the slickest passing and stickhandling defenseman of all time. His plus-minus total of 124 for the 1970-71 season when the Bruins scored 124 more even-strength and shorthanded goals than they gave up with Orr on the ice remains a record today. He managed 103 points once becoming the fourth NHL defenseman ever to do that after Orr, Coffey and Potvin. Ian Turnbull broke into the league during the height of Bobby Orr fever in 1973. 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. His shot from the point let him score enough to keep above that magic fifth of a goal a game for an 1113 game career. 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