Bobby Orr - Hockey's Masterpiece

mas·ter·piece (noun)

1. An outstanding work of art or craft.
2. The greatest work, as of an artist. Also called masterwork.
3. Something superlative of its kind.

Never before accomplished, nor ever duplicated except by Bobby Orr:

1) Eight Norris Trophies (consecutive)
Except for his rookie year, Orr won this trophy every year he was relatively healthy.

2) Art Ross Trophy as a Defenseman
Bobby Orr remains the only defenseman ever to accomplish this feat, and he did it twice, as well as three runner ups and a third place finish (when he missed 20 games).

3) Multiple Hart Trophies as a Defenseman
Orr was the first defenseman to win this during the Norris trophy era, and did it three times. He remains the only multiple winner of the Hart trophy as a defenseman. (Chris Pronger is the only other defenseman to break into this camp, albeit only once).

4) Percentage over Peers by Positional Grouping in Scoring
Orr topped the charts over his defensive peers at a far greater rate than any other positional player ever. In 69-70 he was 176% over the next d-man, 123% in 70-71, 88% in 72-73, 81% in 74-75. Gretzky's highest percentage over his positional peers was 73% in 83-84 (Esposito holds the highest % at center with a 79% over positional peers in 70-71).

5) Plus/Minus TWICE as high as anyone else

Player +/- Per Game
Bobby Orr +1.01
Larry Robinson + .53
Mike Bossy + .51
Bobby Clarke + .44
Serge Savard+ .44
Denis Potvin + .43
Guy Lafluer + .40

No this is not a misprint. Orr's registered +/- per game is DOUBLE over the next closest (this stat was not officially taken during Orr's first year in the league).

6) Only Player to win FOUR major trophies in one year '69-70
Hart, Norris, Art Ross, and Conn Smythe ... plus scoring the clinching goal in the Stanley Cup!

7) Coolest Photo
The Goal -- no description required

8) End to end Rushes whenever desired

9) Three Zone Dominance
Because of winning both the Norris and Art Ross trophies, Orr has been recognized by his sport as excelling as the top player in both offensive and defensive categories.

10) Wow factor
Don't know how to quantify this, but there has never been another player who could do more on a hockey rink -- skate, pass, shoot, defend, fight, etc than Bobby Orr.

Bobby Orr was all of hockey wrapped up in one player, the greatest and most all-around dominant player of them all.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Bobby
• Orr
• Hockey
• Boston
• Bruins
• Highlights
• Sports
• TV38
• NESN

[85highlander]

@CFCanuck As I stated above, Gretzky was by far the greatest pure offensive force the game has ever seen, but he wasn't a complete player. He was on the ice witnessing 2285 goals scored against his team, also a record that many Gretzky fans choose to ignore. As for the lack of the other physical stuff, this is common knowledge to anyone who witnessed him play. In contrast, Bobby Orr dominated the ENTIRE ice, defense (Norris winner) and offense (only D-man to win the Art Ross).

[81overon]

I saw Orr in his prime. The greatest. Nobody even close.

[KillaRock881]

other than the questionable music choice, what a fuckin awesome post!!! good on you for showing some fights too. best Orr vid I have seen.

[MegaMma4life]

@hellonicetomeetyou ur retarded if orr played during gretzkys time you wouldnt know who gretzky is bro your wrong just stop

[hellonicetomeetyou]

Orr got laid out by Quinn; Stevens, Pronger, etc. would surely make Orr is the second guy to die NHL ice if he tried the same style 20 years later. # 99 is retired in every NHL arena, he has more individual and team awards, and records, in the NHL and international competition. He did more for hockey than the amount of games Bobby Orr missed in his career. Sorry, but hockey experts already voted your boy runner up to The Great One (see THN top 50). Gretzky = greatest ever.

[hellonicetomeetyou]

@MegaMma4life Trying to go through 2 D = risky, trying to go through a team = suicide. If Orr didn't hold on to the puck for so much, he wouldn't have gotten hit...can't hit a guy w/o the puck. B's were a strong team and still couldn't win, Orr won half the amount of Cups in his career as the amount Gretzky won in his 9 years in Edmonton. Gretzky's better. Gretzky's playoff numbers #'s>anything Orr did in his career. #99 is retired throughout the league, not #4.

[MegaMma4life]

@hellonicetomeetyou if orr played todays game with all the training and coaching these young kids have he would do the same thing he would skate around the whole team and score whenever he wanted there isnt a player before or since bobby orr that can dominate the game the way he did back then you cannot compaire anyone to him he was simply the best. i would take 1 legged orr vs 5 healthy gretzkys and would say gretzky doesnt touch the puck and loses 5-0

[MegaMma4life]

@hellonicetomeetyou his style didnt lead to his injuries im sorry but thats wrong what led to his injuries was the fact that nobody could touch him so they would stick there legs out to slow orr down and thats what led to injuries bobby orr won cups by himself on a team with guys ready to retire bobby orr was the greatest player to ever play the game he was the best player in the world every year that he played and played better on 1 leg then everyone played on 2 hes is undeniably the greatest

[MrTehChopper]

Plus minus Career per game average ----> Orr = incomprehensible 1.0 Gretzky = .35 That says it all. 

[hellonicetomeetyou]

@MrMferg240 99 did get hit, eg Hawerchuk, Buchburger, Mccreary, Suter, etc. yet he still played for 2 decades. Gretzky didn't get hit a lot compared to Orr because 99 would rather pass the puck than to risk getting hit, despite that he still has more goals than your fav. player. He also had McSorley and Semenko due to good management. He played a lot of international hockey, do you mean to tell me that international refs conspired to prevent players from hitting 99?

[hellonicetomeetyou]

@jhi69 I agree that Orr dominated more than Gretz, but his style led to his injuries. If he played for 15+ seasons with that style then I would say he's the best. Or if he won 5+ cups in his short tenure, I would've agreed. Bure was more dominant than Gilmour, but Gilmour got into the HOF before Bure because 93 was a good player for a long period whereas Bure dominated for a short period. You have to consider longevity, does Hasek's short period of dominance make him better than Roy?

[MrMferg240]

@hellonicetomeetyou lol, if you even called gretzky's mother a dirty name on the ice you would get a two minute penalty. please buddy, bobby orr was the best... period. if people were ALLOWED to hit wayne with good clean hard hits, he wouldn't of had half his scoring records.