Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Talking With Bobby Orr

03/20/2013 at 10:58am EDT

from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

“I’ll tell you a true story that happened the other day,” said Orr, chuckling as he gets rolling. “We had a mixed member-guest-couples event at our golf course and I’m walking down the corridor to the men’s locker room and there was a board set up there, listing all the teams. A couple of ladies were standing there and saw my name, and I heard one say, ‘oh, he’s an old hockey player.’

“I looked at them and was thinking, ‘Old hockey player? Yeah, you’ve got that right.’ But the age thing, it doesn’t bother me. Life is great.”

For hockey fans of a certain age, there are two images inextricably linked to Orr. The first dates back to when he was the new kid on the NHL block, the teenager with the brush cut who joined the Boston Bruins in 1966 and in very short order, stood the NHL world on its ear. The second is of Orr, in mid-flight, tripped by defenceman Noel Picard, scoring the winning goal in overtime against the St. Louis Blues to complete a sweep of the 1970 Stanley Cup final, the first of two championships he would win.

Orr helped revolutionize the game of hockey, with his ability to create offence from defence and influenced generations of players that came after him. There are many who believe he is the greatest player ever. Officially, Orr played only 657 NHL games over 12 seasons because of a series of debilitating knee injuries that prematurely ended his career, but he still scored an astonishing 915 points in that time – remarkable for any player, unprecedented for an NHL defenceman....

read on

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]