mas·ter·piece (noun)
1. An outstanding work of art or craft.
2. The greatest work, as of an artist. Also called masterwork.
3.
Something superlative of its kind.
Never before accomplished, nor ever duplicated except by
Bobby Orr:
1) Eight
Norris Trophies (consecutive)
Except for his rookie year, Orr won this trophy every year he was relatively healthy.
2)
Art Ross Trophy as a Defenseman
Bobby Orr remains the only defenseman ever to accomplish this feat, and he did it twice, as well as three runner ups and a third place finish (when he missed 20 games).
3)
Multiple Hart Trophies as a Defenseman
Orr was the first defenseman to win this during the
Norris trophy era, and did it three times. He remains the only multiple winner of the Hart trophy as a defenseman. (
Chris Pronger is the only other defenseman to break into this camp, albeit only once)
.
4) Percentage over Peers by
Positional Grouping in
Scoring
Orr topped the charts over his defensive peers at a far greater rate than any other positional player ever. In 69-70 he was 176% over the next d-man,
123% in 70-71, 88% in 72-73, 81% in
74-75.
Gretzky's highest percentage over his positional peers was 73% in 83-84 (Esposito holds the highest % at center with a 79% over positional peers in 70-71).
5)
Plus/
Minus TWICE as high as anyone else
Player +/- Per
Game
Bobby Orr +1
.01
Larry Robinson + .53
Mike Bossy + .51
Bobby Clarke +
.44
Serge Savard+ .44
Denis Potvin + .43
Guy Lafluer + .40
No this is not a misprint. Orr's registered +/- per game is
DOUBLE over the next closest (this stat was not officially taken during Orr's first year in the league).
6) Only Player to win FOUR major trophies in one year '69-70
Hart, Norris,
Art Ross, and
Conn Smythe ... plus scoring the clinching goal in the
Stanley Cup!
7) Coolest
Photo
The
Goal -- no description required
8) End to end
Rushes whenever desired
9) Three
Zone Dominance
Because of winning both the Norris and Art Ross trophies, Orr has been recognized by his sport as excelling as the top player in both offensive and defensive categories.
10)
Wow factor
Don't know how to quantify this, but there has never been another player who could do more on a hockey rink -- skate, pass, shoot, defend, fight, etc than Bobby Orr.
Bobby Orr was all of hockey wrapped up in one player, the greatest and most all-around dominant player of them all.
- published: 07 Jan 2009
- views: 230230