from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic,
At 90, Harry Sinden will acknowledge he doesn’t remember every detail about his life in hockey with the same clarity he once did. But Sinden can remember exactly where he was the first time he ever saw Bobby Orr play in person.
It was in 1966. Sinden was the player/coach moving up the ranks the next year to coach the Boston Bruins. Accordingly, he wanted to see the team’s top junior prospect play for the Oshawa Generals and as it happened, the Memorial Cup finals were being played in Toronto. Orr was the team’s star attraction.
The problem, according to Sinden, was that Orr shouldn’t have been playing because he had a serious groin injury. But Orr, being the indomitable force he was even back then, insisted he be in the Oshawa lineup.
“Bobby suffered to skate in the game, but even then, he was still the best player on the ice,” Sinden remembered. “He scored a goal and he played incredibly. But the most impressive time was the following year at training camp when I became coach of the Bruins and got on the ice with him and watched his workouts and the way he trained.
“He was 18 and every single player in training camp was in awe over what he could do.”
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