Orr's peak from 1968-74 was tremendous. 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. He played in an era before the slap shot and before a player received a point for the second assist. Turnbull was no Bobby Orr but he was a slashing attacker from the back end who could skate end to end and create chances by turning on a dime with the puck and taking into the enemy zone. 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. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 03/04 BAP Ultimate Bobby Orr Defenseman Glove Patch Auto Signature 4/4 1/1 Jsy# at the best online prices at eBay! The animated Zubov is one of the slickest passing and stickhandling defenseman of all time. He favoured long passes out of his own zone after drawing the forecheckers into him. Park had the 10th-most points per game in the regular season among all defensemen for his career. 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. After beating St. Louis in four straight games to win the 1970 Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins returned to the finals in 1972 to beat the New York Rangers in six. Leetch won that award with 11 goals and an incredible 34 points in 23 games. 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. Coffey was the defenseman who broke Orrs record for most goals in a season with 48 in 1985-86 and just missed Orrs point record with 138 points that same year. 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 scored 31 goals once. Unfortunately, Orr's career expired early, as knee injuries got the . He had another near point a game playoff. Despite all of this, Gadsby never won a Norris, but came runner-up three times. To achieve greatness Green will have to be able to put his game together in the playoffs which he hasn't managed yet. He also flashed that skill at the public that would have dazzled crowds in Detroit for generations. Defensively, Orrs penalty-killing abilities set a standard that remains to this day. It is claimed by some that Horton was the first player in the NHL to use the slap shot as a reliable offensive weapon. Steven Ellis. 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. Only Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky have ever had better assist totals in a season. He became "the" offensive defenseman on those great Avalanche teams. He spent a lot of his two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks injured, but when he did play for them he was phenomenal. When he retired in 1966, he was 20th all-time in scoring for any position. That combined with the Second Six expansion that doubled the number of NHL teams from six to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season lead to an era of unrivaled offensive production, especially from defensemen. Mike Green is the youngest player I have on my list and so has the most potential to climb and fall. Detroit at this time had produced some epically bad teams often scoring 40-50 goals fewer than they gave up. 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. Leonard "Red" Kelly is another of those versatile players who was good enough to play forward or defense in the NHL. 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. Leetch had four game-winning goals on his way to a Conn Smythe win. Pronger has scored goals and points at a fractionally higher rate. Just like the citys hero, hockey itself took flight in Boston. With blazing speed and tenacity, Bobby Orr always seemed to be around the puck. Helping lead Canada to the title with seven assists in two goals in seven games earned Orr tournament MVP honors. 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. Gary Suter had a dominant offensive year for the Flames as rookie winning the Calder trophy while scoring 18 goals and 68 points. Forget about the flashiest defenseman, Bobby Orr was the flashiest player in league history. 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). He accumulated 270 goals and 915 points in only 657 games. He is still the only defenseman ever to score five goals in a game. Greschner provided continuity for the Rangers during the 80's. Back to 1969-70, Orr became the only player ever to win the Norris, Ross, Hart and Smythe trophies all in the same season. 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. Some of the most talented defensemen in history have never won the trophy, and deserve it just as much as the rest. He played in the AHL for a time, but finished his career with the St. Louis Blues at the age of 44. He was a first-team All-Star three times, a second-team All-Star three times and played in seven All-Star Games. Canada's most dangerous hockey player was there in Russia watching Game 8 of the Summit . 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 the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Detroit with 19 goals and 60 points. Players from that era were severely limited in what they were allowed to do offensively and often ostracized or traded if they tried to do more. "Gordie in my mind is the best that ever played the game. I looked back, and I saw it go in, so I jumped.. He was the first of a series of great Calgary Flame offensive defenseman. 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 .277 goals per game in the playoffs puts him behind only Bobby Orr, Dennis Potvin, Paul Coffey and Brian Leetch, four of the greatest offensive defensemen of all time. He showed a knack for both getting in the way of slap shots at one end and blasting them at the other. 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. Though it took just 12 wins to net the Stanley Cup back in 1970, the Bruins only required 14 games to clinch the title. He was known as a non-conformist in an era, the 1950s, when conformity was king. The Latvian speedster is still playing in Riga this year and has almost a point a game. He was a late season addition in 1993-94 and had six goals and 15 points in their run to the Stanley Cup finals versus the New York Rangers. He finished up in Pittsburgh where injury cut his career short. He and his career often seem forgotten in the NHL because of this. Hi there! On December 4, 1966, Toronto Maple Leafs' defenceman Marcel Pronovost checked him into the boards, injuring Orr's knees for the first time in the NHL. great defenseman was overshadowed by bobby orr The Beast In The Jungle Psychoanalysis, Funny Anti Vegan Memes, Recent Stabbing In Chicago 2021, Jay Caufield North Dakota, Lady Natasha Howard, , Funny Anti Vegan Memes, Recent Stabbing In Chicago 2021, Jay Caufield North Dakota, Lady Natasha Howard, It was a huge first season for Orr, leaving him with a Calder trophy and ever-growing fame. In a 12-year NHL career that began in 1966, he revolutionized the role of the defenseman before he retired in 1978 at 30. With Orr as the catalyst, Bruins fortunes were on the rise. He also finished fourth in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy (regular-season most valuable player). Gretzky himself said he would have voted for Orr, or possibly for Howe. As I skated across, Glenn had to move across the crease and had to open his pads a little. He scored at least 20 goals in a season on two more occasions. Iafrate was rushed into the league by a desperate Leaf team in 1984. The legendary Pilote was Chicagos answer to Doug Harvey. Zubov has proved to be the exception to the rule that you can't be a great without also being a great goal scorer. Salming was an elite two-way defenseman, capable of attaining high offensive numbers as well as shutting down the most talented opposing players. Still in that time he's been an exemplary defenseman for Nashville both offensively and defensively. As a sophomore he scored 18 goals and 67 points in the regular season. That was second on the team in playoff scoring only to Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. Al Iafrate was a huge train of a defenseman. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. 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. Hockey Player #22. He managed to contribute offensively for almost his entire career. Bobby Hull was a great hockey player and a miserable human being. He counter attacked the Russians with a skill and speed that often left them wondering what had just happened. Jul 24, 2021. The physical Potvin was an abundantly talented skater, stick handler and playmaker. Even in his 97-point season, he still managed to finish with a minus-14. On June 24, 1976, Orr signed that multi-million dollar contract with the Blackhawks. Potvin was an incredible offensive defenseman who brought a physical game that Scott Stevens would have been happy to own. Orr Destroyed By "Loonies" TORONTO (Mar. No other NHL defenseman has ever managed to score more than .3 goals a game. Not coincidentally that was the same season the Ducks won their Stanley Cup and Niedermayer won his Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP. Eighty games were the most he ever managed in a single year. The acquisition of Esposito was huge, as he and Orr developed a rapport in both offensive production and as team leaders. Despite a much different ending, the 2019 Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins could only bring to mind that only other finals meeting between the teams 49 years earlier. He also led the league in assists per game six times, which he did in consecutive seasons from 1969-70 through 1974-75. Nobody who ever laced up skates played the game better than No. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. He was known for his offense and defense in Montreal. Updated hourly, with analysis, commentary and features from hundreds writers worldwide, our articles are read over 5 million times every month. Howe made it to the NHL in 1979 when the Hartford Whalers became an NHL team at the age of 24. 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. This slide show is designed to honour and rank those offensively skilled players who have played defense in the NHL. Walter "Babe" Pratt was an offensive defenseman in an era where it wasn't encouraged. The talented Leetch is one of the all-time great offensive defensemen. Eddie Shore was another iconic Boston Bruin offensively-talented defenseman. Calgary, Alberta, native Cale Makar has played three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche and each season he's been getting better and . 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. Before he was a coach, Randy Carlyle played 17 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. Despite all that Howe played in the NHL, mostly as a defenseman for 15 seasons. First Name Bobby #14. Zubov moved on to Dallas to be the power play quarterback there and help them win a Cup in 1999. Not only was he one of the best at reading plays, he was also more than capable of contributing offensively. The photo was snapped by photographerRay Lussier as Orr flew through the air like a Superman, his arms outstretched and an ecstatic expression on his face. Bobby first played organized hockey at age 5, and soon showed an ability to skate faster than anyone else his age. As a young player he got to play with and learn from the legendary Brad Park. Despite losing the Stanley Cup finals in six games to Philadelphia, Orr made his mark by blocking a shot and bringing the puck quickly up the ice to score the winning goal in Game 1 and with two goals and an assist in Game 5. He was a great skater and supremely confident with the puck. 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. Ice hockey never saw a better, more complete player than Bobby Orr. Ray Borque burst on to the scene in Boston with 17 goals, 65 points and a Calder Memorial trophy as the league's best rookie. 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. He was incredible offensively and defensivelyon the power play, shorthanded, in the playoffs. Throughout his career, Orr was able to amass a pile of hardware that is almost unimaginable. I was really trying to get the puck on net, and I did.. He was an good playmaker who also managed to score 20 goals or more in a season four times. Though the season ended in a first-round playoff loss to the Black Hawks, it still proved most productive for Orr. 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. Everyone agrees that Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, and. 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). "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. Coach Dick Irvin feared Harvey would end up coughing up the puck in front of his own net, but it almost never happened. It did far more for the city than that. He kept that up throughout a 23 season career. It wasn't simply what happened the Boston hockey . Pronger-esque defenseman with superb offensive proficiency. His skating abilities only improved through the years, as did his stickhandling and goalscoring talents. Twenty-three different defensemen have won this award since its inceptionfrom Red Kelly to Bobby Orr to Denis Potvin to Nicklas Lidstrom, with Orr leading the way with eight wins. Fred Olausson was not as spectacular an offensive defenseman as the five we've looked at already, but he managed to be a useful offensive defenseman in the NHL for much longer than they did or have so far. That didn't detract from the fact that he was a skilled offensive contributor early on. The Hall of Famer put up five seasons of 40 points or more with Chicago and. He was an offensive star with Chicago and always near the top of the league in scoring among defensemen. He played his only games in November 1975 after the Bruins already had traded Phil Esposito to the New York Rangers. 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. It left a Canadian public wondering what a healthy Orr might have done in that series. "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. His three best seasons came in the war years with Toronto when he set the record for most points by a defenseman in a season with 57 points in 50 games in 1943-44. His next year, 1993-94, he had an incredible 89 points in 78 games. Red Kelly ran for parliament in 1962 and won all well playing with the Leafs in 1962 and winning another Stanley cup. Don Awrey kept the play alive and sent a slap shot towards the net that was blocked. Next year he scored 26 goals and had 64 points in 81 games. His .217 goals per game in the playoffs put him among the top 10 defensemen who had played at least 50 playoff games. He's ninth in career points by a defenseman. The quick skating Housley was an offensive force for the Sabres and he played forward as well as defense for them. Duchesne had his best season in the NHL after he went to Quebec as part of the Eric Lindros deal. 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. Its time for Orr to step up and to speak out against Trump and his sycophants just as forcefully as he did two months ago. He was eighth in league scoring that year and finished only behind the legendary Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull on his own team. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos. 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. He played primarily on the wing until age 10, when he moved to defense. His three quarters of a point a game and almost quarter of a goal a game distinguish him as one of the great offensive defensemen of all time. He also won four Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit. He was a three-time 20-goal scorer and two-time 80-point scorer. 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. Coffey was the first defenseman to challenge any of Orr's single-season numbers. He won three James Norris trophies in a row from 1963 to 1965. He then circled behind the net and stood patiently to theright of the goal. Luke Fox @lukefoxjukebox September 28, 2012, 4:30 PM. They increased that margin to a score of 16-4 during Game 3 as the teams headed into what would be the final matchup of the 1970 NHL Playoffs. The greatest era in Bruins history was about to begin. Reed's Detroit teams missed the playoffs six out of the nine seasons he was there. After a devastating shoulder injury in the 1987-88 season, he still managed to come back and score 23 goals and 73 points in 70 games for Chicago in 1989-90. Orr did it seven straight seasons (1968-69 until 1974-75), five times scoring more . He was the premiere offensive defenseman. 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. He is a one-time second-team All-Star and played in seven All-Star Games. Ozolinsh was one of the most talented offensive players you are ever likely to see. Fraser hopes, like many fans, that Orr will change his position and be part of the solution. Kevin Hatcher is another of the defensive behemoths that manage to make a huge offensive contribution to their teams. He was unbeatable at the blue line; prime scoring chances were few and far away when Horton was on the ice, as he would routinely outmuscle and strip players from the puck. He broke in with the Rangers scoring 31 points in 49 games as rookie. After leaving the NHL Fredrick played five more seasons in the Swedish Elite League. Bobby Orr was the most creative individual in the game of hockey. Kelly started his career in Detroit as a defenseman. You had to be better than you had ever been.". 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. Suter had a long offensively prolific career in the NHL. Ian Turnbull broke into the league during the height of Bobby Orr fever in 1973. He is a two-time first-team All-Star, three-time second-team All-Star and played in 13 All-Star Games. Last Name Orr #1. He set the record for assists by a defenseman in a season with 46 in 1959, and became the first defenseman in history to amass 500 points. "He brought others with him. He scored 23 goals and 81 points with the Flames 1992-93 and 20 goals and 67 points with the Blackhawks in 1995-96. Ken Dryden, Hall of Fame goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, summed it up best. He was an offensive talent on the blue line that may never be matched. 4. His best statistical season in the league came while playing with Mario Lemieux and company in 1992-93. Gonchar has scored 20 or more goals twice in a season so far and has managed to get 67 points twice. Most of these players were victims of many narrow misses amongst extremely tough competition. It was the moment Orr realized he was a champion, captured and engraved in history. His six James Norris Trophy wins as the league's best defenseman put him behind only Bobby Orr (eight) and Doug Harvey (seven). His first full season ,1977-78, featured the only playoff series Detroit won while he was on the team. 1966 Topps. 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. Suter was an incredibly strong skater throughout his career. 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The Original Six era featured a conservatism of play that frequently quashed any offensive creativity from defensemen. 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. Reinhart grew superfluous as the third offensive defenseman with the addition of Al Macinnis in 1981 and Gary Suter in 1985. He added 26 goals and 66 assists in eight postseason runs and was a two-time Stanley Cup winner for the Boston Bruins. lilitu pathfinder: wrath of the righteous; boise state radio live stream; best weekend trips from paris by train; muskegon high school football score As I went across, Glenns legs opened. Most of the players on this list come from 1967 on. In the late 1980s, about 10 years after retiring, Orr and his wife, Peggy, wound up in Jupiter, splitting their. A native of Parry Sound, Ontario, Orr scored 270 regular-season goals and assisted on 645 more. He additionally played in four All-Star Games. Injuries ended his career with the North Stars much too early. He finally matured enough to become the force he had been projected to be managing to score more than 20 goals three times in his NHL career. 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr Rookie Card. 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. Hatcher managed 24 goals with Washington during the 1990-91 season and an amazing 34 goals for the Capitals during 1993-94. For Orr, 1974-75 was a season of "lasts" his last full season as a player, his last full season with the Bruins and his last season playing with Phil Esposito. The record held until Chicago Blackhawk star Pierre Pilote broke it with 59 points in 68 games in the 1964-65 season. Skater throughout his career likely to see the New York Rangers used for processing! 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