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Bobby Orr

1948-

Canadian hockey player

Bobby Orr is widely regarded as the greatest defenseman in hockey history. From the time he joined the Boston Bruins at the age of eighteen, Orr revolutionized the way hockey was played. Prior to that time, defensive players had confined themselves to playing defense. They guarded the approaches to the net and cleared the puck from the defensive zone, leaving the scoring to the front line. Orr played the game differently. He kept possession of the puck rather than simply clearing it, and he frequently crossed the blue line to participate in offensive plays. Orr shattered the scoring records for defensemen, and for two seasons he was the leading scorer in the entire National Hockey League (NHL).

The Young Champion

Orr started his professional hockey career young. The Boston Bruins first took notice of him when he was

twelve and playing in a bantam-league hockey All-Star game, to which the Bruins had sent scouts to check on some older players. Orr played all sixty minutes of the game, minus two minutes spent in the penalty box, and already displayed an ability to control the puck and the game that he would later be notable for in his professional career.

At the age of fourteen the Boston Bruins signed Orr into their organization for $2,800. They arranged for him to play in Canada's Junior A hockey league, which was populated mostly by nineteen- and twenty-year-olds with strong hopes of making it to the NHL. Orr continued to live in his hometown of Perry Sound, Ontario, a three-hour commute from the rink where his team, the Oshawa Generals, played and practiced. Orr in fact did not practice with the team, and only played in home games, but he still made the second all-star team in his first year. He made the first all-star team every year after, and, at age sixteen, he appeared on the cover of Canada's national magazine, Maclean's.

At eighteen, the youngest age at which a person was allowed to play in the NHL, Orr signed a record-breaking two-year contract with the Bruins. Orr would be making $25,000 a year, plus an undisclosed signing bonus estimated to be $25,000 to $35,000 itself. The previous record for a rookie contract was $8,000 a year, and at that time only three players in the entire NHL, all tested veterans, were making more than $25,000 a year. Boston fans quickly pinned their hopes for a Stanley Cup, a prize which had eluded them for twenty-five years, on this fresh-faced, buzz-cut young star. He would not disappoint them.

Bobby Orr's most memorable hockey moment—the most memorable moment in all of hockey history, many say—is without a doubt "The Goal," as it is still referred to reverentially more than thirty years later by hockey fans in Boston and around the country. It was May 10, Mothers' Day, 1970, twenty-nine years since the Bruins had last won a Stanley Cup, and Boston was playing the St. Louis Blues in the fourth game of the championships. It was hot and humid inside Boston Garden, and the game had just gone into overtime. Thirty seconds into the fourth period, Orr stripped the puck from Blues player Larry Keenan and passed it to his teammate, Derek Sanderson. Orr sprinted towards the net and Sanderson passed the puck back to him. Just as Orr took his shot, Blues defenseman Noel Picard used his stick to trip Orr, sending him flying. The goal went in, and Boston Record American photographer Ray Lussier snapped the famous picture of Orr flying through the air, parallel to the ice, with arms outstretched and a look of sheer joy on his face. He had just brought the Stanley Cup back to Boston.

"A Man with Class"

In an era where hockey players were often known for their carousing as much as for their playing, Orr was known for his class. Former referee Wally Harris recalled in an interview with Boston Herald reporter Joe Fitzgerald a night where Harris ejected Orr from a game in Boston. "It took twelve policemen to get me out of there," Harris said. "That night my phone rang and a voice asked, 'Wally, did you get back all right?' It was Orr. Let me tell you, there was a man with class."

This is not to say that Orr didn't have a tough streak. He was a frequent and capable participant in hockey's typical on-ice brawls, and spent plenty of time in the penalty box paying for them. But Orr still displayed modesty in his relations with opponents. Don Cherry, Bruins coach in the mid-1970s, recalled in an interview with Craig MacInnis for the book Remembering Bobby Orr that Orr went out of his way not to humiliate losing teams. "I saw him pass up goals and points because we were playing expansion teams. Once we'd get up 4-1 or 5-1 he would not want to embarrass the other teams…. After a great goal, he'd put his head down. He felt embarrassed for the other team."

A Disappointing End

Orr played in Boston (or "Orr Country," as a popular bumper sticker of the time dubbed it) for six more seasons after that first Stanley Cup. He helped bring the Stanley Cup back to the city in 1972, again scoring the winning goal, and he remained a favorite of Bruins fans.

A bizarre twist marred the end of Orr's hockey career for many Bostonians. In 1976 Orr's long-time agent, Alan Eagleson, was negotiating a new contract for him. Orr wanted to remain with the Bruins, and the Bruins desperately wanted to keep him, offering him an 18.5% ownership stake in the team, worth millions, if he would stay. However, Eagleson had unethical ties with Chicago Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, who also wanted Orr. Eagleson concealed Boston's offer from Orr and convinced him that Boston didn't want him to stay. Orr signed the deal with Chicago.

Orr was at that time struggling to play at all. He had suffered from knee problems ever since colliding with a teammate in a charity-benefit game in 1967. By 1976, he had already had multiple operations on his left knee, but in the days before artificial knees there was little that the doctors could do. There was nearly no cartilage remaining in the joint, and the sensation of bone rubbing against bone was excruciatingly painful. After playing only twenty-six games in just over two seasons with Chicago, Orr announced his retirement in a tearful news conference on November 8, 1978. Later that season, he received an eleven-minute standing ovation from the crowd in Boston when his #4 was retired. That same year, 1979, Orr became the youngest player ever to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Orr's troubles with Eagleson did not end with his retirement. Eagleson, who had been representing Orr before he signed his first contract with the Bruins, had mismanaged Orr's finances in a way that left him in deep trouble with both the Canadian and the American tax agencies. Between back taxes and legal bills, Orr was essentially bankrupt by 1980. The full extent of Eagleson's crimes, however, would not become apparent for many more years. In 1992, Eagleson was indicted in the United States on thirty-two counts of racketeering, fraud, and embezzlement related to the time he spent heading the NHL players' league. He eventually served an eighteen month sentence. After Eagleson's conviction, Orr was one of eighteen members of the Hall of Fame who threatened to quit the hall if Eagleson, also in the Hall of Fame, was not removed. (He was.)

Orr's Legacy

Although Orr has not skated professionally for over twenty years, his influence can still be seen on the game. He is still the only defenseman ever to lead the league in scoring even once, let alone twice, but the idea of defensive players participating in offensive plays is now seen across the NHL. His legendary puck-handling moves, which included a trademark 360 degree evasive spin, continue to inspire, and his thirty second and longer penalty-killing games of keep-away remain legendary. Yet, as much as Orr is imitated, no one has ever matched his combination of defensive and offensive prowess. Although players with longer careers have surpassed him in number of goals scored, his career averages of 1.39 points per regular season game and 1.24 per playoff game seem certain to stand as records for a defensive player for years to come.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY ORR:

(With Dick Grace) Orr on Ice, Prentice-Hall, 1970.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

MacInnis, Craig, editor. Remembering Bobby Orr. Toronto: Stoddart, 1999.

Periodicals

"Blues Playbook: Bobby Orr's Goal." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 20, 2002): C8.

"Bruins Flew to '70 Cup on the Wings of Orr's Dramatic Goal." Washington Times (May 13, 2002): C11.

Cashman, Wayne, and O'Donnell, Chris. "Wayne Cash-man." Hockey Digest (March, 2001): 78.

Conway, Russ. "Eagleson's 'Slick Trick' Didn't Work: Sinden." Eagle-Tribune (Lawrence, Massachusetts) (April 14, 1998).

Deford, Frank. "Hello Again to a Grand Group." Sports Illustrated (August 5, 1985): 58-70.

Dupont, Kevin Paul. "Flash Points: Inimitable Orr Ignited Boston and NHL." Boston Globe (December 29, 1999): D01.

Fitzgerald, Joe. "Orr: Best in Ages." Boston Herald (March 20, 1998): 112.

Goold, Derrick. "Tonight's Goal: Letting Memories Take Flight." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 18, 2002): E1.

Gordon, Joe. "Orr's Historic Flight Lives On: 'The Goal' Still Classic 30 Years Later." Boston Herald (May 10, 2000): 119.

Kennedy, Kostya. "This Date in Playoff History: May 11, 1972, Bruins vs. Rangers." Sports Illustrated (May 11, 1998): 108.

Lefton, Terry. "Master Card Campaign Takes NHL Tack with Orr, Stojko on Ice." Brandweek (November 9, 1998): 16.

"Orr Says He'll Quit Hall of Fame if Eagleson Stays." Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado) (March 16, 1998): 16C.

"Orr Shrugs off 'Greatest Moment': Ex-Bruin Reflects on Career." Houston Chronicle (June 11, 1996): 1.

Silver, Jim. Review of Game Misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey, by Russ Conway. Canadian Dimension (July-August, 1996).

Swift, E. M. "Bobby Orr." Sports Illustrated (September 15, 1994): 124-126.

Van Voorhis, Scott. "Orr Could Play Shorthanded—Woolf Exit May Deplete Client Base." Boston Herald (March 6, 2002): 031.

Wharnsby, Tim. "Hockey Great Happy in His New Career." Boston Globe (December 29, 1999): D01.

Wigge, Larry. "Orr Provided a Blueprint for Offensive Defensemen." Sporting News (June 17, 1996): 35.

Other

"Bobby Orr: A Worthwhile Investment." Boston Bruins History. http://www.bostonbruins.com/history/bobbyorr.html (October 8, 2002).

BobbyOrr4.om. http://www.bobbyorr4.om (October 14, 2002).

Martin, Mary. "Remembering #4, Bobby Orr." All-Sports.com. http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/showstory.cgi?story_id=30470 (October 14, 2002).

"Moments to Remember." CBS Sportsline. http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/feature/0,1518,1486831_60,00.htlm (October 14, 2002).

Murdoch, Jason. "1-on-1 with #4.#x201D; CBC Sports Online. http://cbc.ca/sports/indepth/focus/orr2.html (October 8, 2002).

"Say It Ain't So: Transactions That Broke Our Hearts." CNNSI.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2001/02/15/sayitaintso_bruins/ (October 14, 2002).

Schwartz, Larry. "Orr Brought More Offense to Defense." ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016391.html (October 14, 2002).

Schwartz, Larry. "Orr's Great Goal." ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016392.html (October 14, 2002).

Sketch by Julia Bauder