ROBERT GORDON ORR
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Robert Gordon Orr See Also... Award & Career Statistics | The Goal (Photo & Story) | Bobby Orr Photo Gallery Bobby Orr Literature & Video | Bobby Orr Related Links  Born
in Parry Sound in 1948, Robert Gordon Orr, “Bobby” began
skating at the age of four when he acquired his first pair of skates
from a family friend. The Seguin River became Bobby's rink of
choice where he'd spend hour after hour practicing his skating and stick
handling playing Shinny. If that was not enough, he would spend another
hour nightly practicing that lethal shot in his garage.Bobby began playing organized hockey at age five, where he leapfrogged through the levels and by the age of twelve was playing against young adults 4 years his elder. Bobby's role model was Montreal Canadien defenseman Terry Harper. It is said, Bobby liked to watch a defenseman who was an offensive threat. While Bobby was in kindergarten, he began playing in the Parry Sound Minor Squirt Hockey League. By the age of 9 he had won the MVP in the Pee-Wee Division. He may have been smaller than the other boys, but not in heart and he knew he would have to develop a strong body to keep up with the bigger kids. Bobby excelled on the local playing fields, and on the ice where he quickly became recognized as one of hockey’s greatest young prospects; but his boyhood teammates, family and friends soon said farewell.  When Bobby was only 14 years old, the Boston Bruins made
arrangements for him to play with the Oshawa Generals in the
Metro Junior A League. He continued to live at home and commute to each
game, and during that initial season he was selected to the league’s
Second All-Star Team. All the five-foot six, 135 pound, speedy
youngster required was size to make him a bona fide star.By the time Bobby turned 18 and his junior career was over, Bobby was a sturdy six-footer and ready for the NHL. In 1966, playing for the Boston Bruins in his first NHL game, against Gordie Howe’s Detroit Red Wings, the 18 year-old recorded his first point while putting in an outstanding defensive effort. He won the Calder Trophy as the Best Rookie in the 1966/67 season and also made the NHL’s Second All-Star Team. He was second in league in scoring by defensemen and finished the season at plus-30. Bobby won his first Stanley Cup in 1970, an accomplishment that the Bruins hadn’t achieved in 29 years. Game four against the St. Louis Blues went into overtime, and during those tense minutes Bobby took Derek  Sanderson’s pass from the corner
and flashed in front of the net to bury it behind goalie Glenn Hall.
The photograph of that moment has become one of the NHL’s most
enduring images, and Bobby was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy
as the playoffs’ most valuable player, an award he would win again when
Boston won the title in 1972, again with the Cup-winning goal
coming off Bobby’s stick.During Bobby’s career he also made such achievements as winning two scoring titles, the only defender to accomplish that feat, and had career season highs of 46 goals and 102 assists. For eight consecutive seasons he won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman and three times he was the league’s Hart Trophy MVP. His plus-minus rating when he was at his best was untouchable at plus-124 in 1970-71, when he scored 139 points. Bobby struggled with a knee injury and played only 10 games in 1975-76, then signed with the Chicago Black Hawks – leaving behind a team that had been a part of his career since he was a teen in Parry Sound. Bobby played 20 games in his first season with the Black Hawks and spent the entire 1977-78 season recuperating from knee surgery. A valiant attempt to return ended after six games into the 1978-79 season. At the age of 30, Bobby Orr retired from the game of hockey, but the legend will always remain. Robert Gordon Orr was one of hockey’s greatest and most exciting players. Fearless on the ice, he changed the face of the game forever as the first defenceman to become a consistent offensive threat. The way we look at the game has never been the same, and to this day, hockey historians divide the game into two eras, “Before Bobby and After Bobby”. |
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| (c) 2006 Charles W. Stockey Centre & Bobby Orr Hall of Fame |