Orr, "Bobby" (Robert G.)
Hockey
b. March 20, 1948, Parry Sound, ONT
Boston Bruins' Coach Harry Sinden said of Orr, "Bobby was a star from the moment they played the National Anthem in his first NHL game." He was expected to be. Orr joined the Bruins in 1966, when he was eighteen, after signing a two-year contract for $75,000, an unprecedented salary for a rookie. He won the 1967 Calder Trophy as the league's outstanding first year player.
Harry Howell won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman that year and said, "I'm glad I won it now, because it's going to belong to that Orr from now on." He was right. Orr won the Norris Trophy the next eight years.
There was never another defenseman like Orr, and probably never will be. Often playing forty or more minutes, he could control the puck, and the game, almost at will. He's the only defenseman ever to win the Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, and he did it twice, in 1970 and 1975. He became the second player in history to score more than 100 points in a season in 1970, when he had a record 87 assists. He won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player three years in a row, 1970-72, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs twice, in 1970 and 1972.
When the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 1970, Orr scored the winning goal in overtime of the fourth and final game against the St. Louis Blues. It was his 9th goal and 20th point of the playoffs. They won the cup again in 1972, when Orr had 19 playoff assists to break Jean Beliveau's record.
Orr is the only player ever to receive four individual trophies in a single season. He won the Hart, Norris, Ross and Smythe awards in 1970.
Knee injuries shortened his brilliant career. He underwent the first of several knee operations before the 1972/73 season and was often forced out of the lineup by recurring problems. The Bruins traded him to the Chicago Black Hawks in 1978, but he played only a few games in Chicago before retiring.
In 657 regular season games, Orr scored 270 goals and had 645 assists. He had 26 goals and 66 assists in 74 playoff games. His average of 1.393 points per game is fifth best in history and by far the highest for a defenseman.
