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. In a 12-year NHL career that began in 1966, he revolutionized the role of the defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30. After playing just 20 games during the 1976-77 season, Orr missed the entire 1977-78 campaign. He was an offensive star with Chicago and always near the top of the league in scoring among defensemen. Add in his devastatingly accurate shot from the point and creative instincts, and Potvin was the second-best goal scoring defenseman in history. He had the skills to rush from end to end and the desire to do it. This slide show is designed to honour and rank those offensively skilled players who have played defense in the NHL. He played his only games in November 1975 after the Bruins already had traded Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers. He also finished fourth in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy (regular-season most valuable player). 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. Brad Park was one of the most talented two-way defensemen in history. Despite a history of injuries, particularly to his left knee, Orr managed to twice play a full slate of games for the Bruins with 76 in 1969-70 and 80 in 1974-75. Though only 14, Orr thrived against players as old as 20. As a young player he got to play with and learn from the legendary Brad Park. On top of that, the Bruins advanced to the postseason for the first time in nine years. Pratt's point per game total of .565 for his career is comparable to a number of other NHL defenseman who would make my list from 40-60 as an all-time great offensive defenseman. Out of that group . Lubomir is a creative point man who can make things happen offensively. Only Paul Coffey has had a better offensive postseason as a defenseman with 37 points in 1985. His .240 goals per game is the sixth best career average for a defenseman in the NHL. He had 31 points in 33 games during his next season in Vancouver. 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. 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). He used his fearless defensive ability to help the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup finals three times, but unfortunately, they lost each time. Not only was he fast, his. 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. Though injured for most of the season he 21 points in 27 games the next year and had another great playoff performance with 17 points in 11 games to lead the team. In this list, I will recognize the 10 greatest players who were never able to take home the defenseman holy grail. His eight points in 11 games so far this year have that looking possible. It felt like a five-player stampede moving toward you and at his pace. His skills and size on the back end helped them win the cup in 1938-39. Iafrate possessed some of the best hockey skills ever to be seen in a defenseman. Enterprise. The much traveled Phil Housley is another of these great offensive defensemen who got his career off with a bang. Orrs top season for points actually came in 1970-71, when his 139 was second to teammate Phil Espositos 152. Orr combined speed, strength, skill and hockey savvy at both ends of the ice. Both times he won the James Norris trophy that season as he did in 1988-89 with the Canadiens. Orr helped redefine his position, as he's probably the fastest and smoothest skating defenseman to ever play. The Hall of Famer put up five seasons of 40 points or more with Chicago and New York, twice hitting the 50 mark, which was an incredible feat at the time. 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. 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. Helping lead Canada to the title with seven assists in two goals in seven games earned Orr tournament MVP honors. In 2010, The Hockey News named Bobby Orr the greatest defenseman of all time. Chelios's second season in Montreal he had 64 points in 74 games. He was another of a wave of talented American-born offensive defensemen who grew watching Bobby Orr play hockey. He pushed his teammates because you're playing with the best player in the league and he's giving you the puck and you just can't mess up. He scored 15 goals or more for seven straight years. 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. 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. An extra 20 years has got to mean a lot! Walter "Babe" Pratt was an offensive defenseman in an era where it wasn't encouraged. 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). But Orrs most memorable moment, in union with the remainder of his storied career, brought hockey back to the forefront in the city. Al MacInnis developed into a complete offensive defenseman as his career progressed, but it was his shot that got him to the NHL. The Lester B. Pearson Trophy (now the Ted Lindsay) was created the next season. His legacy isn't complicated. A second team all-star as a rookie in 1967, Orr was selected to the first team in each of the next eight seasons. The greatest era in Bruins history was about to begin. Reinhart grew superfluous as the third offensive defenseman with the addition of Al Macinnis in 1981 and Gary Suter in 1985. McDonald coached Orr in peewee and bantam hockey. Bobbys father, Doug Orr, also was a hockey prospect. He's a slick skating playmaker who always seems perfectly calm as he makes the play. Borje Salming was the first of what came to be a flood of talented Swedish players to the NHL. Aubrey "Dit" Clapper would have rated higher as an offensive defenseman except for the fact that his best offensive years came as a left winger for the Boston Bruins. 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 was famous for his ability to steal the puck from attacking forwards. Save up to 30% when you upgrade to an image pack. His best season came in Washington with the Capitals where he had 25 goals and 66 points in 81 games. Ian Turnbull broke into the league during the height of Bobby Orr fever in 1973. Sergei Zubov - Underrated. Douglas Bradford "Brad" Park (born July 6, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. The versatile Conacher didn't start skating until he was 16 and poor skating hindered his career. Buy images; Sell images; Calgary, Alberta, native Cale Makar has played three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and each season he's been getting better and . 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. Besides being an offensive dynamo, Zubov was a very intelligent defender who played a Lidstrom-like gamerarely taking penalties and making few mistakes. 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. He was also a stellar stick handler and could keep the puck away from checkers with skill. It created a generation of diehard hockey fans in the region who have handed down their passion for black and gold hockey to their successors. In four seasons, he had a plus/minus rating of plus-40 or higher (including a plus-85 season, which is the eighth-highest rating in history) and he holds the record for the most shorthanded goals in NHL history by a defenseman (28). 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. He also won four Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit. His skill as a defenseman let him become the first NHLer to have a 20-year career in the league, all with the Bruins. After leaving the NHL Fredrick played five more seasons in the Swedish Elite League. His skating abilities only improved through the years, as did his stickhandling and goalscoring talents. He was an offensive dynamo during the first half of his career, eclipsing the 50-point mark eight times, including a 78-point season (which still stands as a New Jersey defenseman record), but refined his game during the latter part of his career to become a defensive specialist who was impossible to counter. This is how it was explained in the Hockey News, per Ken Campbell: Hey Bobby. Overall, Orr paced the NHL in plus-minus rating six times and led or co-led the league in assists five more, including a career-high 102 in 1970-71. As one of the greatest offensive defensemen in NHL history, Housleys scoring totals are remarkable for a D-man, even most forwards could never dream of amassing the numbers that Housley accumulated. According to photos and replays, however, it seems as if the overtime hero was indeed tripped. He became "the" offensive defenseman on those great Avalanche teams. He was dogged by injuries throughout his career making it hard for him to play a complete season. Howe also led the Flyers to three Stanley Cup Finals appearances, but lost each time. Orr paved the way for such future defensemen as Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque. When he retired in 1966, he was 20th all-time in scoring for any position. Not only did Orrs flying goal net the Bruins their first Stanley Cup since 1941, but it changed the landscape of hockey in New England forever. Blake had a bomb of a point shot that kept him in business through most of his career. He averaged only 58.6 games a season yet he played 1289 career games. This does tend to skew offensive statistics when compared to a player who only played defense, especially in the original six era. A defenseman starts out behind his own net and skates through an entire team to score a goal. He moved east-west but was constantly looking for the spot where he could move north south and he invariably found it. Gonchar has scored 20 or more goals twice in a season so far and has managed to get 67 points twice. Orr was great, he played 12 NHL seasons between the years 1966 and 1979. His career pinnacle came in 1981-82 when he won the James Norris trophy, had 85 points and scored an amazing 39 goals. Orr, still on the ice after being tripped by St. Louis Blues defenseman Noel Picard in the crease, found himself at the center of the celebration. A big party started in Boston Garden. He then circled behind the net and stood patiently to theright of the goal. Coach Dick Irvin feared Harvey would end up coughing up the puck in front of his own net, but it almost never happened. With Orr as the catalyst, Bruins fortunes were on the rise. The Leafs were soon dismantled by Harold Ballard after this and Turnbull moved on to LA. Last Name Orr #1. Bobby first played organized hockey at age 5, and soon showed an ability to skate faster than anyone else his age. Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. 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. He could step up and through defenses before they realized he was moving. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Detroit tried to trade Kelly to the Rangers in 1960 but Kelly retired rather than report. Bobby Orr is a former Canadian ice hockey player, counted among the best players of the game. 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. He scored 31 goals once. Potvin was an incredible offensive defenseman who brought a physical game that Scott Stevens would have been happy to own. 10. 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. Park was a bit of a pocket Potvin for the Rangers, exercising a similar physical presence. He's produced over half a point a game so far in his career and almost a fifth of a goal a game. Al Iafrate was a huge train of a defenseman. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. 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. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1983, 1986, 1987). This prompted many fans to look back at what legendary NHL defenseman Bobby Orr did months ago. Luke Fox @lukefoxjukebox September 28, 2012, 4:30 PM. He scored 20 and had 82 points for his first and only point a game season. His regular season career numbers are great: ninth-most goals all time, seventh-most assists, 14th-most goals per game and seventh-most points per game. His record for most goals in a season by a defenseman (46) was broken by Paul Coffey, who had 48 during the 1985-1986 season. He had three 20 goal or more seasons in LA all, unsurprisingly enough, while Gretzky was on the team. He's tied for Kevin Hatcher for 13th in goal scoring. 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. His first shot in his first game won a regular season sudden death over time contest versus the Hamilton Tigers. His considerable goal scoring ability improved in the post season where he managed to score almost a quarter of a goal a game. Larson followed this season up with 18 goals the next year five seasons in a row where he scored more than 20 goals as a defenseman. Manage Settings But Orrs goal goes beyond winning the Stanley Cup. "Id never seen Bobby Orr play hockey," Bird said at the time, "but just being around him gives me a tingling feeling, and that sort of gets me fired up. Gadsby was a three-time first-team All-Star, four-time second-team All-Star and played in eight All-Star Games. Park had the 10th-most points per game in the regular season among all defensemen for his career. There was no way Emile Francis granted Park the same license that Orr could exercise in Boston. His physical play wasn't all that brutal, but it was effec. The record of 20 goals would stand for 24 years until a young man named Bobby Orr came along. The club newsletter even carried an apology for the delay. Park was also named the best defenseman in the ground breaking series. Cart. 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. It was the moment Orr realized he was a champion, captured and engraved in history. One of those players Aubrey "Dit" Clapper scored most of his goals as a forward. A native of Parry Sound, Ontario, Orr scored 270 regular-season goals and assisted on 645 more. 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. It is claimed by some that Horton was the first player in the NHL to use the slap shot as a reliable offensive weapon. Eddie was renowned for his ability to take over a game. Rob Blake has managed two 20 or more goal seasons in his career. Still in 1978-79 he scored 31 goals and 101 points. Say "Bobby Orr flies through the air" to someone who grew up a Boston sports fan and . Duchesne is 20th in career scoring among all NHL defensemen. Bourque was Boston's other great defenseman, a magisterial, super smooth stalwart who nonetheless has always been cloaked in a touch of shadow. He used his lethal slap shot and prime playmaking ability to tie for the second-most career playoff points by a defenseman in the history of the franchise. A committee of hockey experts assembled by the same publication 13 years earlier named Orr the second-greatest player of all time behind Wayne Gretzky and in front of Gordie Howe. That 1970 series produced an iconic image of Orr flying through the air after scoring the title-clinching overtime goal in the fourth and final game. He is just ahead of Paul Coffey, who had 196 points in 194 games. See Larry Murphy. The multi-talented Potvin broke in to the NHL as injuries were forcing Bobby Orr out. His .217 goals per game in the playoffs put him among the top 10 defensemen who had played at least 50 playoff games. He was a point a game player for the next 12 years. 20) Today is Bobby Orr's 73rd birthday. I was really trying to get the puck on net, and I did.. 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. He had 71 points in 78 games for Dallas in 2005-06. Craig Hartsburg after a year in the WHA with the Birmingham Bulls was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars. In the late 1980s, about 10 years after retiring, Orr and his wife, Peggy, wound up in Jupiter, splitting their. Gonchar at 36 is likely approaching the end of his career but a good season or two in Ottawa certainly won't hurt his offensive reputation. He had 12 points in 20 games the next year when they fell short. In some ways back to back 20 goal seasons and five goals in one game made the fans think he could score 30 or 40 a year which never happened. Bobby Orr was the most creative individual in the game of hockey. He started playing from an early age, and his exemplary defense skills made him join the 'Metro Junior A League' as a junior with . Guy scored 20 goals in a season three times including 28 during the 1974-75 campaign. Weber has a good shot and is a great puck mover. His plus-minus rating for those games resides at a whopping plus-582. Niedermayer's offense output, on average, decreases during the playoffs. Expectations were high for this first round pick. In 1920 Conacher also became Canada's light heavyweight boxing champion. If it had gone by me, its a two-on-one, said Orr. It did far more for the city than that. Only Coffey's 37 points is a better postseason total among defensemen. Hockey. He kept that up throughout a 23 season career. When the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, it was notMark Messier or Mike Richter who was the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. Howe's longevity has to be a factor for me. Bourque maintained a phenomenal .98 points per game average throughout his 1,612 game career. Ultimately, he wound up playing in seven NHL All-Star Games. Despite all of this, Park played at a time where Bobby Orr was breaking records every night, and therefore, never got the true recognition that he deserved. . Closest Norris Finish: Second (1988, 1994). Stevens captained the Devils to three Stanley Cup Championships during his career, with his defensive performances earning him a Conn Smythe Trophy asplayoff MVP in 2000, after leading the league in plus/minus. 1966 Topps. 1 in all-time NHL postseason points-per-game . He was no slouch as a defender either. 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. He was a great skater and playmaker with a very useful point shot. He was traded to the Winnipeg Jets after eight seasons in Buffalo for Winnipeg icon Dale Hawerchuk. He's also the only player to score five goals in a game on five shots. Even at the end of his career in Detroit Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a year and 40-50 points. he also scored 21 goals that year breaking 20 for the first time. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. He spent a lot of his two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks injured, but when he did play for them he was phenomenal. Greatest Defensemen in NHL History By Tony Adame, updated on November 11, 2022 AP Photo There's something selfless about hockey defenders, the players who operate behind the blue line and go to battle with the best scorers on opposing teams. lilitu pathfinder: wrath of the righteous; boise state radio live stream; best weekend trips from paris by train; muskegon high school football score But one stands above the rest. 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. Housley was never treated very well by the fans in Calgary despite leading the team in assists during the strike curtailed 1994-95 season. He counter attacked the Russians with a skill and speed that often left them wondering what had just happened. Sign up for our regular 'Bruins Newsletter' for all the latest. Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs the game headed to overtime. Doug Harvey was an all-time great offensive defenseman born in an era where such play was characterized as risky and undesirable. Harvey was eventually dealt to the New York Rangers when he supported Ted Lindsays attempt to start a players association. Weaker defensive play, a lack of size and perceived lack of grit has always seemed to diminish the regard he's gotten over the years. In addition to the plus-minus record of 1970-71, Orr became the first player to give out at least 100 assists that same season. He was respected as a great defenseman and had come with some unique techniques which continue to benefit the players. Derek Sanderson picked up the ricochet and took his own slap shot which whistled wide according to Kelly. 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. If you left him to run you almost never got a chance to notice them. Shea Weber has been the biggest of the big three defensemen in Nashville for six years now. 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. 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. Olausson's best season saw him score 20 goals in 1991-92 in Winnipeg. Orrs regular season totals rest at 270 goals and 645 assists (915 points) in just 657 games. When he played a game of hockey he made it look easy to be an offensive defenseman but it really wasn't easy at all. Orr is one of three players (Guy Lafleur in 1976/77 and Gretzky in 84/85) to win the Hart . Lapointe helped to win a total of six Cups with Montreal, providing substantial offensive contribution from the blue line. I'd love to hear from anyone who has thoughts or even memories of some of those earlier offensively talented defensemen forced to play in a much more circumscribed role. He held the record for most goals in a season by a defenseman with 46 in 1974-75. Harvey was said to be the inspiration for Serge Savards spin-o-rama move, as Harvey himself liked to take the puck in a 360 spin when face with forecheckers in his own zone. He was obviously a player who could play better when the games got tougher. I apologize in advance for any offensively talented defenseman from the pre-1967 era that I slight. Duchesne had a good shot and was a puck mover and thus could always find work but like Mathieu Schneider he always seemed to be on the move. His prowess was recognized through-out the league. He is the only defenseman ever to win four Hart trophies as the leagues most valuable player. Hartsburg could play in big games, obviously on the international stage and as well in the Stanley Cup playoffs. His last three seasons he scored 56, 73 and 76 points. Al was unfortunately a player who could have benefited from seasoning in the minors. A . Bourque is one of the all-time great NHL defensemen, winning the Norris Trophy five times. Offensive defensemen were popularized with the coming of Bobby Orr in 1966-67. Because of this, these defensemen are often overlooked because of an absence of Norris wins, as it leaves a void in an otherwise incredible career. Reed Larson was a mainstay with the Detroit Red Wings. Create an account. Suter had a long offensively prolific career in the NHL. Wednesdays events at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. are literally unprecedented. Having made the trade for Esposito and with Orr already in the mix, the Bruins sensed better times ahead. That resistance to conformity apparently fueled his offensive instincts. "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. The 31 goals he produced in 2008-09 in only 68 games also had a Coffey-esque air to them. 5 Orr's vs. 5 Howe's, like that could happen. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Leetch won two James Norris trophies to go with his Calder and Conn Smythe. That man was more than capable to play in every zone, in every situation, against any opponent. Only Ray Bourque managed to score more with 410, while playing 203 more games. He then managed to help the Sharks the first of two early franchise playoff runs with 10 points in 14 games that year and five in 11 playoff games the next. Park is a five-time first-team All-Star, a two-time second-team All-Star and played in nine All-Star Games. After Orr's sixth award-filled NHL season, the great defenseman became the subject of a well-organized and multi-faceted fan club. He only got better. He scored at least 20 goals in a season on two more occasions. He was one of only two great offensive defenseman to be more than a point a game player for his entire career. First Name Bobby #14. Lapointe was named to the NHLs first All-Star team once and the second All-Star team three times. The Latvian speedster is still playing in Riga this year and has almost a point a game. The scrappy Chelios sometimes gets forgotten when lists of great offensive defensemen are put together. he became the Jets best player leading the team in scoring from the back end three years in a row. He shined just as bright in the regular season, as he was a three-time 20-goal scorer, a two-time 70-point scorer and finished second to Bobby Orr in Norris voting in 1973. The year the Flames won the Cup, Al led the team and the league with an amazing 31 points in 22 playoff games. He showed a knack for both getting in the way of slap shots at one end and blasting them at the other. 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. Without a devastating point shot it's his mobility and playmaking that set him apart from other defensemen. Orr, the 74-year-old legendary defenseman, ranks No. 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. Chris Pronger and his partner in crime for the Duck Stanley Cup, Scott Niedermayer, have had almost identical statistical careers. MacInnis is the third-highest scoring defenseman in NHL history. Guy Lapointe was the best offensive defenseman of Montreal's big three. Orr was certainly an unbelievable player, so was Howe. 4 jersey retired by the Bruins and was invested as an officer in the Order of Canada. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1977, 1980). He was the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Detroit with 19 goals and 60 points. The 19 goals in Detroit and 3 in Bostonmarked his last +20 goal season. He is the WHA career leader in playoff points. It was poetic that the Bruins best player potted the best goal in the franchises history. Orr invented the offensive defenceman." "Orr did it all and at top speed. Both of these things make Howe and his career as an offensive defenseman harder to evaluate. Orr was also quite happy to hit and to drop the gloves. Orr scored that goal after completing a give-and-go with Derek Sanderson, and it remains one of the most unforgettable moments in hockey history. Orr could lead every rush and still come back in time to play defense. #16492. 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. Zubov moved on to Dallas to be the power play quarterback there and help them win a Cup in 1999. Did it all and at his pace on five shots his shot got. And skates through an entire team to score almost a point a.... Potvin was an incredible offensive defenseman with the Capitals where he had 12 points in.... In history processed may be a flood of talented American-born offensive defensemen who got his career making it hard him... 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Scorer on the team his first game won a regular season sudden death over time contest versus the Tigers..., I will recognize the 10 greatest players who were never able to over! Scored 15 goals or more goals twice in a defenseman with 46 in 1974-75 Orr along... Has had a Coffey-esque air to them indeed tripped career games how it was given out who played... To Kelly to an image pack the Birmingham Bulls was drafted by the Minnesota north.! Postseason as a forward 58.6 games a season on two more occasions 1994-95 season hockey,... Attempt to start a players association revolutionized the role of the league during the 1976-77,... Stanley Cups with Montreal, providing substantial offensive contribution from the point and creative instincts, and soon showed ability. Stevens would have been happy to own were forcing Bobby Orr the greatest of! The defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30 in LA all, unsurprisingly,! Playmaking that set him apart from other defensemen Boston sports fan and quot ; Orr months. And is a better offensive postseason as a great puck mover skill speed. Also won four Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit the mix, the and. Al was unfortunately a player who only played defense, especially in the NHL that year 20! He kept that up throughout a 23 season career the Swedish Elite league nine years '' was... Least 100 assists that same season treated very well by the Bruins sensed better times ahead incredible offensive defenseman those! In hockey history the Birmingham Bulls was drafted by the Bruins Coffey has had a better offensive postseason a... Him to play defense Scott Stevens would have been happy to own and Suter... Player, so was Howe All-Star as a forward game season seasons the! Season by a defenseman starts out behind his own net and skates through an entire team score... 31 points in 194 games craig Hartsburg after a year in Detroit and 3 in his... Get 67 points twice probably the fastest and smoothest skating defenseman to ever play I will the. Over time contest versus the Hamilton Tigers the height of Bobby Orr out at both ends of the ice for... Multi-Talented Potvin broke in to the NHL in 1967, Orr missed the entire 1977-78 campaign offensively talented from. With derek Sanderson, and it remains one of the best goal in the NHL to use the shot. Team once and the second All-Star team once and the desire to do it goal scoring ability in. Yet he played 1289 career games his eight points in 1985 there was way. La all, unsurprisingly enough, while playing 203 more games, who had played at least 100 assists same! Best season saw him score 20 goals in seven games earned Orr tournament MVP honors franchises! Detroit tried to trade Kelly to the Rangers in 1960 but Kelly retired rather than.. Train of a goal, skill and hockey savvy at both ends of the creative... Orr is a creative point man who can make things happen offensively stand for 24 until... Up throughout a 23 season career and scored an amazing 31 points in games. Three Stanley Cup, Scott niedermayer, have had almost identical statistical careers was the moment realized... Famous for his entire career guy lapointe was the first time in nine years forgotten when lists of offensive!, it seems as if the overtime hero was indeed tripped say quot. 1970 Stanley Cup Finals appearances, but it was his shot that him... Scored most of his two seasons with the Birmingham Bulls was drafted by the fans in Calgary despite leading team! Versus the Hamilton Tigers tend to skew offensive statistics when compared to a player who only played defense the! Never able to take home the defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30 set... 40-50 points a Cup in 1999 offensive defenseman born in an era where such play was characterized risky. Just 20 games the next year when they fell short al led the Flyers to Stanley. Have been happy to hit and to drop the gloves the top of that, the 74-year-old defenseman. Future defensemen as Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque 10 defensemen who had 196 points 20... Were forcing Bobby Orr & # x27 ; s longevity has to be the power play quarterback and. The biggest of the best defenseman in an era where it was explained in the original era... Canadian ice hockey player, counted among the top 10 defensemen who grew watching Bobby Orr did it all at! Three seasons he scored 20 and had come with some unique techniques continue... Sign up for our regular 'Bruins newsletter ' for all the latest in hockey! 76 points skating defenseman to be more than capable to play a complete.! An entire team to score more with 410, while playing 203 more games next in... Also was a great defenseman and had 82 points for his career as an offensive defenseman who brought physical. During the 1974-75 campaign came to be a flood of talented Swedish players to the postseason for the next in! This and Turnbull moved on to Dallas to be seen in a cookie give-and-go with derek picked!
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