1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Happy 65th Bobby Orr, the greatest hockey player ever

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by JR, Mar 20, 2013.

  1. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    I'm not much of a hockey guy...so please excuse my ignorance: Which guy would still be the league's all-time leading scorer even if you didn't include his goals scored, because he had that many assists?
     
  2. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Never got to see Orr play live (a little too young), but the Orr vs. Gretzky debate is an interesting one. Guess I'm partial to Wayne, but that's taking nothing away from Orr.
     
  3. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    Probably not the defenseman.
     
  4. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Gretzky. No one's arguing his greatness.
     
  5. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Gretzky was great, no question. Orr was better - he could do it in all three zones. The most complete hockey player who ever lived, who ever will live.
     
  6. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Not complete: Bobby Orr's career.
     
  7. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    That's for sure. You could play that game with a lot of people, including Gretzky, who could and maybe should've played until he was 40.

    But Orr....finished at 28....that's a tragedy. He had done it all, mind you, but it's still sad to think of what else he would have done. I mean, imagine him and Gretzky going head to head in the early '80s.
     
  8. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Saying Bobby Orr's career ended at 28 is being generous given his last few seasons. Wayne Gretzky played more than twice as many games.

    Here's my method of determining greatness: If told you could have a player for his entire career but that his career would not change from what it was, who would you take? The only answer for the NHL is Wayne Gretzky. You would get 300 more games from Gordie Howe, sure, but he wasn't as dominant. (That is not to say Howe wasn't dominant.)
     
  9. finishthehat

    finishthehat Active Member

    Bobby Orr's knees vs. Joe Namath's -- which is the bigger "what if?"

    Namath squeezed more years out of his, but....well, I'm a Jet fan. (And a Ranger fan.)

    And, truth be told, a Bobby Orr fan
     
  10. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Joe Namath was never that good.
     
  11. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Saying Bobby Orr's career ended at 28 is being generous.

    I don't understand what you mean by this. He officially retired at age 30, but his last games of note or importance were played when he was 28 years old.
     
  12. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Bobby Orr played 10 games in the season he turned 28, 20 in the season he turned 29 and six in the season he turned 31.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page