Happy 65th Bobby Orr, the greatest hockey player ever

Agree, Orr is one of the absolute best if not THE best ever.. Here's A Hockey Hall of Fame tribute video of Bobby Orr. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/D1fMcTq8Esk

 

Probably most of you are familiar with it, but the great `70s time-capsule movie "Friends of Eddie Coyle" includes a longish set piece filmed at the old Boston Garden (looking pretty rundown) with a drunken Robert Mitchum praising Bobby Orr as the best of all time.

So there's another vote for Orr.....

 

No, it's not. The movie was released when Wayne Gretzky was 12.

 

True. With John Unitas in the league was there ever a time when anyone said Namath is the best QB in the NFL? With Orr was there ever a time when anyone could argue someone else was the best defenseman or player? Sometimes I think the hype around Namath is more similar to Lindros. If Lindros won one with the Flyers it would be real similar.

 

People forget how dominant Lindros actually was when he was healthy. Was Namath ever dominant?

 

Before Joe Namath was derailed by knee injuries, he had more interceptions than touchdowns.

 

Now that's what I call going out on a limb.

I don't ever have a good answer in these kinds of debates, especially because the two never played against each other, and also because they played different positions.

But food for thought. Could Gretzky have been the defenseman Orr was? I'm talking total package - skill, toughness, etc.

Could Orr have been the centreman Gretzky was?

I would guess that Orr would have been closer to Gretzky's level as a centreman than Gretzky would have been to Orr's level as a defenseman.

 

Namath's legend started when he played on two healthy knees in high school and in college. The professional player was a shadow of what he could have been .

 

Can't we just conclude this a tie? I mean they still have those in ice hockey, right? #StephenASmith

For me it's Gretzky, I just can't get past the numbers and just how far he was beyond everyone else. The fact he has more assists than anyone else has points and also has scored 93 more goals than any other player, I have trouble wrapping my head around that. Hell he also had more shorthanded goals than anyother player. Even in the twilight of his career, when it was clear his best days were long gone, in the godawful trap era, he was still a point a game player. I do think longevity has to play into it. I admit, I probably suffer from the fact my only recollection of Orr are grainy highlights. But as much as Orr changed the way defencemen played, I would argue Gretzky forced the game to change the way defence was played in an effort to stop him, and they still never really did.

 

The set piece from Friends of Eddie Coyle (what a great movie -- no reason to ever bother with the Departed, the Town, Southie, Monument Ave or any other cliched Boston crime drama -- none can hold a candle):

 

Orr was so good he didn't need a nickname to back it up.

 

That's basically it right there. Orr could do everything Gretzky could do, but Gretzky could not do everything Orr could do.