Athleticism ran in Orrs family. But even in defeat, he remained humble and heroic. 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. He would miss nine games and the Bruins would lose six of them. The 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr rookie hockey card is his only rookie card and one of the most recognizable in the hobby. Orr also earned his final All-Star selection. Murphy was a three quarters of a point a game man throughout his long NHL career. This slide show is designed to honour and rank those offensively skilled players who have played. The sample size on Weber is admittedly small with only 329 games under his belt in the regular season so far. Since being introduced in the 1953-54 season, the Norris Trophy has been awarded annually in the NHL to the defenseman who demonstrates the greatest all-around ability at the position. By his third season Borque was a point a game NHL defenseman. Park was also named the best defenseman in the ground breaking series. Had eight monster seasons with Calgary, including a Calder-winning rookie season and a 91-point season in which he finished third in Norris voting. Widely considered the best defenseman to ever play the game,and even considered by some the best player ever, the legendary No. He was long overshadowed on a team full of future Hall of Famers. The talented defender was phenomenal in San Jose right from the start. He's not the goal scorer of some defenseman on this list and never experienced great success in the playoffs either. "Gordie in my mind is the best that ever played the game. He showed a knack for both getting in the way of slap shots at one end and blasting them at the other. 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. Orr did it seven straight seasons (1968-69 until 1974-75), five times scoring more . 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). Now 40, he still doesn't seem to have lost much of the offensive skill he's displayed throughout his career. "Absolutely," Orr, 68, said. He became "the" offensive defenseman on those great Avalanche teams. With Orr as the catalyst, Bruins fortunes were on the rise. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1956, 1958, 1959). Still in that time he's been an exemplary defenseman for Nashville both offensively and defensively. He was drafted eighth overall by the Bruins in 1979, playing in Boston for 21 seasons. His .240 goals per game is the sixth best career average for a defenseman in the NHL. 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. Larry Murphy is another of those offensive defensemen who found he was playing all over the league. Honorable Mentions: Steve Duchesne, Sergei Gonchar, J.C. Tremblay, Eric Desjardins, Kevin Lowe, Vladimir Konstantinov, Mike Green, Allan Stanley, Dan Boyle, Fern Flaman, Brad McCrimmon, Carl Brewer, Craig Hartsburg, Kevin Hatcher, Al Iafrate, Shea Weber, Jim Neilson, Rob Ramage, Pat Stapleton, Teppo Numminen. He just wasn't one of the great defensemen of all time. His best point total was in 2006-07 when he had 69 with the Ducks. During the Boston Bruins 1969-70 seasonif(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_3',823,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3-0');,Orr netted a remarkable 33 goals and 87 assists in 76 games. The physical Potvin was an abundantly talented skater, stick handler and playmaker. Orr's peak from 1968-74 was tremendous. It's this more than anything that has me place Chris Pronger one step higher on my list of best offensive defensemen. 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. His last three playoff runs he's scored 14, 14 and 12 points. Hartsburg could play in big games, obviously on the international stage and as well in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ever since Bobby Orr came into the National Hockey League in 1966 and singlehandedly changed the concept of how to play defense, people have been waiting for . He is just ahead of Paul Coffey, who had 196 points in 194 games. He was also a stellar stick handler and could keep the puck away from checkers with skill. Though he never led the league in goals, Orr scored a career-high 46 in 1974-75 with additional seasons of 37 (1970-71 and 1971-72), 33 (1969-70) and 32 (1973-74). Unfortunately, Orr's career expired early, as knee injuries got the . He scored well over a fifth of a goal a game in his NHL career and had almost .8 points per game for 929 regular season games. Bourque is one of the all-time great NHL defensemen, winning the Norris Trophy five times. 4 started celebrating just before being tripped, resulting in one of the most iconic photos in hockey. Not only was he fast, his. In between he managed to play almost 80 games a season every year. He showed all the toughness and spring steel durability that would be expected from Gordie Howe's son. 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. The talented Gonchar is the definitive power play quarterback, confident and creative at the point with a fine hard, accurate shot. Knee problems had taken their toll as Orr called it quits after playing his final game on Nov. 1, 1978, against the Vancouver Canucks. 1966 Topps #35 Bobby Orr Rookie Card. Paul "Rhino" Reinhart was an Atlanta Flame rookie who made the jump with the organization to Calgary. He was no slouch as a defender either. The most productive years of his career were overshadowed by . He started in Buffalo with 19 goals and 66 points. After setting a record for points by a defenseman with 64 during the 1968-69 season, Orr nearly doubled that total with 120 in 1969-70. It is the most recognizable highlight in Boston sports history. He had another near point a game playoff. Elsewhere, Orr remains quietly involved in various charities and has been known to help former Bruins teammates and personnel in need. Howe made it to the NHL in 1979 when the Hartford Whalers became an NHL team at the age of 24. The young defenseman was already turning heads with his ability to score goals and win fights. Thats the kind of teammate Mark Fraser and a lot of other people are looking for right now.. Pronger has scored goals and points at a fractionally higher rate. His skill as a defenseman let him become the first NHLer to have a 20-year career in the league, all with the Bruins. Coach Dick Irvin feared Harvey would end up coughing up the puck in front of his own net, but it almost never happened. Orr could lead every rush and still come back in time to play defense. 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. Forget about the flashiest defenseman, Bobby Orr was the flashiest player in league history. 5 Orr's vs. 5 Howe's, like that could happen. The wisdom at the time was Swedish players would not endure rough play and if hit enough would go back home to Sweden. As I went across, Glenns legs opened. 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. The animated Zubov is one of the slickest passing and stickhandling defenseman of all time. 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. Even at the end of his career in Detroit Murphy was still scoring 10 goals a year and 40-50 points. Bourque was Boston's other great defenseman, a magisterial, super smooth stalwart who nonetheless has always been cloaked in a touch of shadow. Red Berenson, Gary Sabourin, and Larry Keenan were credited for the three Blues goals during Game 4. Tremendous defensive defenseman with an offensive upside. Clancy scored 136 goals in 592 regular season games which puts him in the top for goals per game scored by a defenseman over his career. Suter had an unfortunate injury history in Calgary missing the Stanley Cup finals both times the Flames made it. His first game back he looked like he was playing on one leg. He scored 20 or more goals nine times in a season, 30 or more three times. He could step up and through defenses before they realized he was moving. His big offensive weapon was the point shot as was reflected in his almost a fifth of a goal a game he scored during his career. Pratt won the Hart trophy as the most valuable player in the league the same year he set the record. United States diplomat who did the groundwork for creating the United Nations (1871-1955) United States naval officer who commanded the `Constitution' during the War of 1812 and won a series of brilliant victories against the British (1773-1843) 3 letter answer (s) to hockey great bobby ORR Canadian hockey player (born 1948) The goal ranks up there with memories of the Boston Red Soxs 2004 World Series championship, the New England Patriots first Super Bowl win, and the Boston Celtics incredible streak of eight consecutive championships from 1959 to 1966. Everyone agrees that Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, and. When you look at his first 16 seasons in the league Chelios managed to average three quarters of a point a game. He was fair skater and an able puck mover, but his shot moved him into the offensive elite of the game. During the 1980-81 season he had 83 points to finish second in team scoring behind Rick Kehoe. Robinson managed just under .7 points per game over a 20 year career. 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. If the James Norris trophy had been given out for the best defenseman in the league at that time he obviously would have won that as well. 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. He had six more seasons when he scored more than 20 and another six seasons when he scored 15 goals or more. Orr scored that goal after completing a give-and-go with Derek Sanderson, and it remains one of the most unforgettable moments in hockey history. You had to be better than you had ever been.". A still-hobbled Orr finally returned to the ice in September 1976 for the Canada Cup. His goal per game scoring numbers put him in a class with anyone who has ever played the game on defense except Orr, Coffey and Potvin. 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. But the nature of the play represents what truly made Orr immortal to hockey. He scored 20 goals in the 1999-2000 season. Nobody played the game like him. Jeff Brown was another power play specialist whose lack of a complete defensive game kept him moving. Besides his deft puck-handling and precise passing, Orr, who famously wore number 4, had a presence that made any team he played for better the moment he stepped on the ice. He scored 40 points in his first full season as a fresh faced rookie with New Jersey. 1 in all-time NHL postseason points-per-game . He scored 23 goals and 81 points with the Flames 1992-93 and 20 goals and 67 points with the Blackhawks in 1995-96. Let him become the first NHLer to have a 20-year career in Detroit was... 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