from Steve Buckley of The Athletic,

Nice try by the hockey people in assigning Suite L-8 to Bobby Orr during Monday’s Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

Yes, No. 4 retreated to No. 8 after participating in a pregame “first puck” ceremony with former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, but soon he was stepping into the next suite, and then the one after that, and he appeared to be having as good a time as any of the 39,243 fans who filled this ancient ballpark to watch the Bruins emerge with a 2-1 victory over the Penguins.

Watching Orr shake hands and slap backs and flash that smirky grin of his — which always suggests he knows something that maybe you don’t — it occurred to me that we need more of this sort of thing. We need more of Orr. And if his appearance at the Winter Classic is any indication, 2023 is off to a fine start.

For those who don’t know the backstory, Orr has made only limited public appearances since October of 2020. It was around that time that an ad appeared in the Manchester (N.H.) Union-Leader in which Orr endorsed Donald Trump’s bid for reelection as president of the United States. The ad featured a photo of Orr and his wife Peggy posing with Trump, and the bottom of the ad included the words “Paid for by Bobby Orr.”

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