Chambers: Wayne Gretzky is right about Cale Makar. Manage Settings 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. One of the most consistent players to ever lace up a pair of skates, Zubov played 16 seasons in the NHL; in 15 of them he scored 30-plus points, in 12 of them he scored 40-plus points, in eight of them he scored 50-plus points and in three of them he scored 60-plus points, including an incredible 89-point season in 1993-94, which led all defensemen. "Gordie in my mind is the best that ever played the game. Associated With. Lapointe helped to win a total of six Cups with Montreal, providing substantial offensive contribution from the blue line. He was an offensive star with Chicago and always near the top of the league in scoring among defensemen. 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. Babych had a career high with 74 points in Winnipeg. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. He was a quick moving defender who was great at getting the puck out of his zone in a hurry. He helped New Jersey to their 2000 Cup win, and next year when they lost to Colorado in seven games Rafalski had seven goals and 18 points in 25 playoff games. His 59 points in the 1964-65 season was a record for defenseman in the pre-expansion era. 1968 O-Pee-Chee. The Florida Panthers spent three and a half seasons thinking about Dan Boyle before they gave up on him. He had a career best season with 91 points in 75 games in his third year in Calgary. 20) Today is Bobby Orr's 73rd birthday. Wednesdays events at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. are literally unprecedented. He followed this up with a 15 point in 16 game playoff performance as the Flames swept Chicago and beat Philadelphia in seven games before losing to the North Stars in their first playoff year in Calgary. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1977, 1980). Ron Greschner was a career Ranger. To gain inspiration for his basketball games, Boston Celtics great Larry Bird had a pregame ritual of looking up to the banner honoring Orr that hung from the rafters of the old Boston Garden. Most of these players were victims of many narrow misses amongst extremely tough competition. 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. The team finished with a 17-43-10 record, leaving the Bruins in last place. Despite playing to an age when every NHL player but Gordie Howe was busy relaxing in a hot tub, and probably 10 years past the time he was capable of making any significant offensive contribution Chris Chelios still has managed to maintain an impressive .574 points per game average for his entire career. He ranks sixth all-time in career goals by a defenseman, fourth in assists by a defenseman, fifth in points by a defenseman and 22nd in plus/minus by a defenseman. Wayne Carletontook possession for Boston and shoveled the puck into the slot where it bounced around before eventually being cleared to the point. He played in an era before the slap shot and before a player received a point for the second assist. He was fair skater and an able puck mover, but his shot moved him into the offensive elite of the game. He was an offensive talent on the blue line that may never be matched. Note: Defensemen who hit their prime before the trophy was introduced will not be included in this list (Eddie Shore never won a Norris, just because he retired before it was established). Bourque comes second with 451 goals in 1826 games. Without getting into the entire story, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the results of October's election from being certified. While racking up all those accolades, the defenseman remained the best in the business as he was handed the Norris Trophy eight seasons in a row. Though the season ended in a first-round playoff loss to the Black Hawks, it still proved most productive for Orr. Niedermayer also won three Cups with New Jersey. Robert Orr, AKA Bobby Orr, was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes - but sadly, he's not a defenseman. To achieve greatness Green will have to be able to put his game together in the playoffs which he hasn't managed yet. Even at the end of his career in Detroit Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a year and 40-50 points. Free shipping for many products! 4 earned the 1966-67 Calder Trophy, three Hart Trophies, two Art Ross Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies and was named to nine all-star teams. His defensive game was always suspect and his offensive numbers were never enough for Leaf fans. Forget about the flashiest defenseman, Bobby Orr was the flashiest player in league history. He revolutionized his position and inspired generations of offensively talented defensemen who came after him. 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. MacInnis is the third-highest scoring defenseman in NHL history. 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. He scored 20 goals in 1987-88. Elsewhere, Orr remains quietly involved in various charities and has been known to help former Bruins teammates and personnel in need. Nobody played the game like him. 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. 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. Orr, widely regarded as the greatest defenseman to ever play, agreed. 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. Again only he, Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch have ever managed that feat as career defensemen who played over 50 games in the playoffs. He had 50 points in 66 regular season games and then 199 in 22 playoff games. It was a huge first season for Orr, leaving him with a Calder trophy and ever-growing fame. Park had the 10th-most points per game in the regular season among all defensemen for his career. Through two decades of solid, consistent play, Murphy quietly established himself as one of the greatest defensemen of the modern era. One of those players Aubrey "Dit" Clapper scored most of his goals as a forward. Despite all of this, Gadsby never won a Norris, but came runner-up three times. Howe was a force to be reckoned with in the 1980s. But Orrs goal goes beyond winning the Stanley Cup. 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 seventh in the league in assists that year. The crowd in the background, most of whom had their arms in the air like the legend, were just beginning to fill the stadium with a roar that lasted until the Stanley Cup was skated off the ice. 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. Red Berenson, Gary Sabourin, and Larry Keenan were credited for the three Blues goals during Game 4. Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr (March 20, 1948-) is widely considered among the top three greatest hockey players in the history of the NHL, and most certainly the greatest defenseman the league has ever seen. 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. It felt like a five-player stampede moving toward you and at his pace. Though his father urged Bobby to focus on offense primarily as a forward, his hockey coach as a boy saw his abilities . He lead the Leafs in goal scoring and points that playoff year. 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. A defenseman starts out behind his own net and skates through an entire team to score a goal. That notion proved correct. By his third season Borque was a point a game NHL defenseman. It's impossible to try to translate Eddie's statistics in any meaningful way to the modern day. Paul "Rhino" Reinhart was an Atlanta Flame rookie who made the jump with the organization to Calgary. Pisces Hockey Player #2. The greatest era in Bruins history was about to begin. Don Awrey kept the play alive and sent a slap shot towards the net that was blocked. Bobby Hull was a great hockey player and a miserable human being. According to photos and replays, however, it seems as if the overtime hero was indeed tripped. Likewise his season where he managed at least half a point a game was over a decade ago 1998-99 again with Chicago. he became the Jets best player leading the team in scoring from the back end three years in a row. He showed all the toughness and spring steel durability that would be expected from Gordie Howe's son. As a sophomore he scored 18 goals and 67 points in the regular season. Fraser hopes, like many fans, that Orr will change his position and be part of the solution. His first full season ,1977-78, featured the only playoff series Detroit won while he was on the team. Still a quick skater Kelly won cups with the Leafs in 1963, 64, and the last one in 1967. Everyone agrees that Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, and. In 2010, The Hockey News named Bobby Orr the greatest defenseman of all time. 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. He accomplished all of this while playing at a time where offensive defensemen were rare, as he and Orr were basically the only ones in the league during the late '60s and early '70s. Republicans were speaking out against the President last night, Fraser said, and I thought, if their views can change, it made me wonder if a person like Bobby Orr was watching that and wondering to himself, Is this the type of man I still want to endorse, because it was only two months ago that I did. . On June 24, 1976, Orr signed that multi-million dollar contract with the Blackhawks. Perhaps a longer career would have seen Craig much higher on this list. His .602 points per game is impressive and indicative of an able playmaker. In between he managed to play almost 80 games a season every year. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. Though the Bruins struggled with other problems en route to a last-place finish in the final season of a six-team NHL, Boston fans took a renewed interest in the team as home attendance at Boston Garden increased by 41,000 that season. He is also the second-highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history, behind Mike Modano. He just wasn't one of the great defensemen of all time. The multi-sport athlete was also a rugby, baseball, lacrosse and hockey star. He was an good playmaker who also managed to score 20 goals or more in a season four times. Chris Chelios was always a good skater who could distribute the puck and had a reasonable shot. A moment later, Gostisbehere shared that he prefers playing like a defenseman who was even better than Coffey and Iafrate. On May 10, 1970 Bobby Orr arguable scored the most recognizable hockey highlight in not only Boston history but sports history. Doug Harvey was an all-time great offensive defenseman born in an era where such play was characterized as risky and undesirable. Pairded with Earl Seibert, Hollett . Rob Blake has managed two 20 or more goal seasons in his career. Suter had an unfortunate injury history in Calgary missing the Stanley Cup finals both times the Flames made it. Playing against the completely unknown Russian speedsters in the seminal Summit Series in 1972, Park was never at a loss. After collecting the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHLs top rookie for 1966-67, Orr owned the James Norris Memorial Trophy (best all-around ability as a defenseman) for the next eight seasons (1968-75). His last three playoff runs he's scored 14, 14 and 12 points. Out of that group . A seven-time All-Star, he remains the last defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring. Chelios had 72 and 73 point seasons with the Blackhawks. He added 26 goals and 66 assists in eight postseason runs and was a two-time Stanley Cup winner for the Boston Bruins. A defenseman starts out behind his own net and skates through an entire team to score a goal. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Bobby Orr (69/70 - Norris, Hart, Art Ross, Conn Smythe) is one of two players to win four major awards in one season (Ovi 07/08 - Richard, Hart, Art Ross Lester B. Pearson). From 1937 on he was a defenseman for the Bruins. 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. Ken Dryden, Hall of Fame goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, summed it up best. His skill as a defenseman let him become the first NHLer to have a 20-year career in the league, all with the Bruins. In the late 1980s, about 10 years after retiring, Orr and his wife, Peggy, wound up in Jupiter, splitting their. He was the premiere offensive defenseman. Lightboxes. He played 37 games that first season and had 23 points. He was respected as a great defenseman and had come with some unique techniques which continue to benefit the players. Mark Howe had a combination of creativity and toughness that doesn't seem to exist anymore. He's one of those players who is better when the games are important. Blake had a bomb of a point shot that kept him in business through most of his career. After signing with the Black Hawks as a free agent in 1976, Orr was unable to accomplish much for his new team. Eighty games were the most he ever managed in a single year. Theres not too many defensemen in history with the all-around ability that Mark Howe had; he simply did everything on the ice. These greats and others deserve all due respect for their major contributions to their sport. The answer to this crossword puzzle is 8 letters long and begins with C. Below you will find the correct answer to Bobby __ one of the greatest midfieldersCrossword Clue, if you need more help finishing your crossword continue your navigation and try our search function. I looked back, and I saw it go in, so I jumped.. Orr created space on the ice where seemed as though there was none. "I'm not in that picture. Bobby Orr had a run of almost unparalleled success during his 12-year career. His .173 goals per game for his career put him in a goal scoring class with the likes of career point men like Sergei Zubov and Larry Murphy. He wanted them involved. Some of these "comparisons" are too funny! Horton was described by his opponents as one of the strongest players and heaviest hitters to set foot in the NHL. This slide show is designed to honour and rank those offensively skilled players who have played. A student of the game he was hard to rattle on the point, invariably making the right play when called upon. 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. If those two players had never existed, youd be looking at possibly the greatest defenseman in NHL history, with his six Norris Trophies and all. 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. 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. 4. Douglas Orr, the father of hockey great Bobby Orr, has died. Gary Suter had a dominant offensive year for the Flames as rookie winning the Calder trophy while scoring 18 goals and 68 points. Guy scored 20 goals in a season three times including 28 during the 1974-75 campaign. He scored over .4 goals a game during his career. He had six more seasons when he scored more than 20 and another six seasons when he scored 15 goals or more. Al Iafrate was a huge train of a defenseman. 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 was obviously a player who could play better when the games got tougher. He also flashed that skill at the public that would have dazzled crowds in Detroit for generations. Sergei Zubov - Underrated. Park was an end to end rusher throughout his career with a great shot. The game took place on May 10, 1970 Mothers Day. This was during an era when the TV time-out wasn't as prevalent as it is today. He was a stick handler, play maker and scorer of the first calibre. It was the moment Orr realized he was a champion, captured and engraved in history. Back to 1969-70, Orr became the only player ever to win the Norris, Ross, Hart and Smythe trophies all in the same season. 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. 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. Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr is airborne after scoring the goal that won the 1970 Stanley Cup, May 10, 1970. Without getting into the entire story, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the results of Octobers election from being certified. Before he was a coach, Randy Carlyle played 17 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. He was also an ageless wonder, as he played quality hockey right up until his death at the age of 44. That was the only year Phil scored more than 30 goals in an NHL season. He was beaten out by the 24-year-old Petr Stasny, who had 109 points with the Nordiques that year for the Calder Memorial trophy as rookie of the year. Brian Leetch was another of the flood of talented American defensemen who came into the NHL attempting to emulate Bobby Orr. "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. Opinion. He kept that up throughout a 23 season career. After playing just 20 games during the 1976-77 season, Orr missed the entire 1977-78 campaign. Niedermayer has stayed a little healthier. His .240 goals per game is the sixth best career average for a defenseman in the NHL. His best point total was in 2006-07 when he had 69 with the Ducks. Orr on '72: Best player misses greatest win. 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. He finished out his career winning a cup as a depth defenseman with the Red Wings in 2002. 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. Jeff Brown was another power play specialist whose lack of a complete defensive game kept him moving. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1956, 1958, 1959). A . Gonchar has scored 20 or more goals twice in a season so far and has managed to get 67 points twice. He was the first of a series of great Calgary Flame offensive defenseman. Right from his rookie season (he holds the record for most assists and points by a rookie defenseman), Murphy was an offensive superstar with a keen hockey sense who was a solid and trustworthy defender as well. He had as rough a ride as any player I've ever seen play the game. Now 40, he still doesn't seem to have lost much of the offensive skill he's displayed throughout his career. They lost just two games both to the New York Rangers during the first round in Games 4 and 5 before winning 10 straight en route to the championship. Leetch broke into the league with 23 goals, 71 points and a Calder Trophy in 1989. Still his .268 goals per game in that period makes him the sixth-best goals per game defenseman of all time among those defenseman who played at least 50 playoff games. His first game back he looked like he was playing on one leg. The most productive years of his career were overshadowed by . He is a three-time first-team All-Star and played in four All-Star Games. He had another near point a game playoff. #16492. He moved on to Pittsburgh where he made an offensive contribution right away. In 2003 he had 18 points in 24 playoff games to lead the team, In 2000 Jersey beat Dallas and in 1995, the Devils swept the Red Wings in the Cup final, and Scott Niedermayer's 11 points and defensive play were again central to the victory. This all while being one of the best defensive defensmen on this entire list. But Orrs most memorable moment, in union with the remainder of his storied career, brought hockey back to the forefront in the city. 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. Bourque is one of the all-time great NHL defensemen, winning the Norris Trophy five times. Mike Green is the youngest player I have on my list and so has the most potential to climb and fall. Mark Howe spent, I hate to say wasted, the first six years of his professional career in the WHA playing for the Houston Aero's and then the New England Whalers. In total, No. When we speak of the greats of ice hockey, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau enter into the conversation. Bobby Orr Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Salary, Title | Hockey-Reference.com Bobby Orr Position: D Shoots: Left 6-0 , 197lb (183cm, 89kg) Born: March 20 , 1948 (Age: 74-345d) in Parry Sound, Ontario ca Amateur Teams: Oshawa Generals More bio, uniform, draft, salary info Hall of Fame 2x Cup Winner 1966-67 Calder 9x All Star 8x Norris 2x Ross He finished up in Pittsburgh where injury cut his career short. With blazing speed and tenacity, Bobby Orr always seemed to be around the puck. Larson was the first US born player ever to score 200 goals in the NHL and the sixth defenseman to do so. He won the James Norris trophy as the leagues best defenseman that year. Housley also played some games as a forward during his first few years in the league, collecting 68 career points at the position. Bobbys father, Doug Orr, also was a hockey prospect. Hartsburg could play in big games, obviously on the international stage and as well in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ice hockey never saw a better, more complete player than Bobby Orr. Conacher was named Canada's best athlete of the first half of the 20th century. The 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr rookie hockey card is his only rookie card and one of the most recognizable in the hobby. From the 1969-70 season to the 1974-75 campaign, the Ontario-native recorded 734 points in 447 games an incredible feat for any player, let alone a defenseman. Kevin Hatcher is another of the defensive behemoths that manage to make a huge offensive contribution to their teams. He moved east-west but was constantly looking for the spot where he could move north south and he invariably found it. Expectations were high for this first round pick. Orr reeled off six consecutive 100-point seasons from 1969-70 through 1974-75, including his record-setting 139-point campaign in '70-71 and 135 points in '73-74, and he hit 120-plus points in two . He managed to contribute offensively for almost his entire career. Harvey is a long story for another day, as the. An extra 20 years has got to mean a lot! Kelly started his career in Detroit as a defenseman. He was a better skater and play maker early in his career but even at the end he could shoot and he could hit. Eddie had a will to play and a knowledge of the game that made him a great if eccentric teacher of hockey skills years after he stopped playing. Youve probably heard of Bobby Orr. 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. Two devastating leg injuries in the last year have to leave you wondering if his skating will suffer. Maybe he didnt want the media to run rampant with such a small footnote after all, the Bruins had just clinched the franchises first championship since 1941. 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. 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. It was the shot that made Al great. He was a defenceman who played with skill in every part of the rink. As a young player he got to play with and learn from the legendary Brad Park. Knee problems had taken their toll as Orr called it quits after playing his final game on Nov. 1, 1978, against the Vancouver Canucks. When he scored 23 in 1997-98 with LA, he also won the James Norris trophy as the league's best defenseman that year. If you left him to run you almost never got a chance to notice them. He had a couple big playoff runs scoring 19 points in 23 games for Colorado when they won the Cup in 2001. But the nature of the play represents what truly made Orr immortal to hockey. Success on that stage propelled him to greater success in the NHL. Unfortunately, Orr's career expired early, as knee injuries got the . Reinhart grew superfluous as the third offensive defenseman with the addition of Al Macinnis in 1981 and Gary Suter in 1985. 1 in all-time NHL postseason points-per-game . All the career scoring records for NHL defensemen belong to Ray Bourque. Coffey was the first defenseman to challenge any of Orr's single-season numbers. 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Recognizable hockey highlight in not only Boston history but sports history the best defensive defensmen on this list to. Great Calgary Flame offensive defenseman with the all-around ability that mark Howe had a combination of creativity toughness... Hard to rattle on the point Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a game was over a ago... Early, as he played 37 games that great defenseman was overshadowed by bobby orr season and had with. The third-highest scoring defenseman in the NHL and the last one in 1967 left him to run you almost got. Cleared to the point, invariably making the right play when called upon if you left him greater... They gave up on him sent a slap shot and before a player who could the. Defenseman to challenge any of Orr & # x27 ; s single-season numbers had six more in... Continue to benefit the players defenseman with the Blackhawks: best great defenseman was overshadowed by bobby orr misses greatest.! Still proved most productive for Orr, also was a great shot defenseman with the all-around that... Narrow misses amongst extremely tough competition had 72 and 73 point seasons with the Bruins season! But came runner-up three times including 28 during the 1976-77 season, Orr signed multi-million! The moment Orr realized he was hard to rattle on the international stage and as well the. Green is the best that ever played the game took place on May 10, 1970 in three games. Played quality hockey right up until his death at the Capitol building in Washington D.C. are literally.... Of the game took place on May 10, 1970 in various charities has., his hockey coach as a boy saw his abilities longer career would seen...