The Boston Garden was packed night after night to see one of the best if not the best player to ever play the game of ice hockey. Murphy became a key international player for Canada and contributed a goal and six assists in the 1987 Canada Cup. Hockey Player #22. Trumps tumultuous first term in office has been beset in recent months by high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths, and now the events that occurred at the Capitol building. Without getting into the entire story, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the results of Octobers election from being certified. During the postseason the defenseman went on to produce 26 goals and 66 assists (92 points) in 74 playoff appearances. But wait they did. There, he used his all-around talents to make offensive rushes up to ice. 4 took his first strides in the NHL during the 1966-67 season but, it was during Orrs prime that he dominated the league. Suter had a long offensively prolific career in the NHL. Mike Green is the youngest player I have on my list and so has the most potential to climb and fall. He scored 48 points as a grizzled veteran 18 years later in his last season with the Ducks. It felt like a five-player stampede moving toward you and at his pace. "Id never seen Bobby Orr play hockey," Bird said at the time, "but just being around him gives me a tingling feeling, and that sort of gets me fired up. Overall, Orr paced the NHL in plus-minus rating six times and led or co-led the league in assists five more, including a career-high 102 in 1970-71. The Blues then traded Housley to the Flames for all-time Flame defenseman Al MacInnis. Forced to play in Sweden and Finland for four years after graduating from university, Brian Rafalski was finally given a chance by the New Jersey Devils. He and Al MacInnis became one of the best power play point combinations in hockey. They lost just two games both to the New York Rangers during the first round in Games 4 and 5 before winning 10 straight en route to the championship. If the James Norris was available, Eddie would have won four at least and probably would have equalled or surpassed Orrs eight and Harveys seven and Lidstroms six James Norris trophies if the award had been given out when he played. On his way to becoming the youngest player to ever enter the Hall of Fame, Orr won two Stanley Cup championships, three Hart Trophies for being the league's MVP, eight consecutive Norris Trophies for being the league's best defenseman. Both times he won the James Norris trophy that season as he did in 1988-89 with the Canadiens. #16492. Orr created space on the ice where seemed as though there was none. His third and final year in Winnipeg he had his best season with 79 assists and 97 points, both Jet records for a defenseman. Larson was the first US born player ever to score 200 goals in the NHL and the sixth defenseman to do so. This prompted many fans to look back at what legendary NHL defenseman Bobby Orr did months ago. Borje wasn't the goal scorer that most of the defensemen this high up on the list but his .686 points per game for his long career put him in the neighborhood of highly respected offensive defensemen Mike Green and Sergei Gonchar. He was 82. It created a generation of diehard hockey fans in the region who have handed down their passion for black and gold hockey to their successors. He saw the ice like a forward, made incredible passes or would take it in himself. After a devastating shoulder injury in the 1987-88 season, he still managed to come back and score 23 goals and 73 points in 70 games for Chicago in 1989-90. His shot while not devastating allowed him to provide a very consistent 10 goals a year everywhere he's played until injury caught up with him. The Latvian speedster is still playing in Riga this year and has almost a point a game. He had a great point shot and was a key to the power play in Winnipeg where he started. Park was also named the best defenseman in the ground breaking series. He's also the only player to score five goals in a game on five shots. Even in his 97-point season, he still managed to finish with a minus-14. Coach Dick Irvin feared Harvey would end up coughing up the puck in front of his own net, but it almost never happened. When the Islanders won their four Cups in a row from 1980-83, Potvin had 85 points and 27 goals in 78 playoff games. Ice hockey never saw a better, more complete player than Bobby Orr. Only one man on the hockey front Bobby Orr, 22-year-old super defenseman of the Boston Bruins. In four seasons, he had a plus/minus rating of plus-40 or higher (including a plus-85 season, which is the eighth-highest rating in history) and he holds the record for the most shorthanded goals in NHL history by a defenseman (28). Niedermayer also won three Cups with New Jersey. Closest Norris Finish: Second (1983, 1986, 1987). It was just the third time they were forced to take a matchup by one goal during their historic playoff run. Bobby grew up in the small town of Parry Sound on Georgian. Hed have been a likely Conn Smythe candidate that year if the trophy had existed back then. He was a key to the offensive transition game the Jets liked to run. Howe also led the Flyers to three Stanley Cup Finals appearances, but lost each time. Phil Housley - A little one dimensional, but offered the exact same dimension that won Paul Coffey three Norris trophies. Brown was another goal scoring defenseman who managed to score more than a fifth of a goal per game for his career. Park had the 10th-most points per game in the regular season among all defensemen for his career. Bobby first played organized hockey at age 5, and soon showed an ability to skate faster than anyone else his age. He was an enthusiastic offensive skater with a great shot. Though the season ended in a first-round playoff loss to the Black Hawks, it still proved most productive for Orr. The Hall of Famer put up five seasons of 40 points or more with Chicago and. He has 202 goals in what has been a 1002 game career. Ray Bourque had nine seasons when he scored more than 20 or more goals. He was the third leading scorer on the team his first full year in Detroit with 19 goals and 60 points. He took home the Hart, Norris, Art Ross, and Conn Smythe Trophies and his first Stanley Cup. Ray Borque burst on to the scene in Boston with 17 goals, 65 points and a Calder Memorial trophy as the league's best rookie. Teams: LA, Phi, Que, Stl, Ott, Stl, LA, Phi, Det. Despite a much different ending, the 2019 Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins could only bring to mind that only other finals meeting between the teams 49 years earlier. Now 40, he still doesn't seem to have lost much of the offensive skill he's displayed throughout his career. He moved east-west but was constantly looking for the spot where he could move north south and he invariably found it. Despite all of this, Park played at a time where Bobby Orr was breaking records every night, and therefore, never got the true recognition that he deserved. He started playing from an early age, and his exemplary defense skills made him join the 'Metro Junior A League' as a junior with . We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Thats the kind of teammate Mark Fraser and a lot of other people are looking for right now.. He was a great skater and playmaker with a very useful point shot. The crowd in the background, most of whom had their arms in the air like the legend, were just beginning to fill the stadium with a roar that lasted until the Stanley Cup was skated off the ice. He was a three-time 20-goal scorer and two-time 80-point scorer. Orrs long desperation shot could not prevent a 1-0 Game 6 loss. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher and Herb Brooks protege, played for some of the worst Red Wing teams of all time. Along with Bobby Orr, he is the only defenseman to rank in the top 25 in career scoring, despite playing fewer than 1,000 games. He scored 20 goals in the 1999-2000 season. He used his fearless defensive ability to help the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup finals three times, but unfortunately, they lost each time. So rather than penalizing him for playing so long I want to reward the offensive skill he did show for over 1006 NHL games. Orr would be the first person to say pshaw, what-the-heck, forget-all-the-valentines routine . He has been called the best offensive defenseman of the Original Six era of the NHL. Photo by Ray Lussier/The Boston Herald via AP, File. Bostons 14th game of the postseason was the only match in which they saw overtime. Defensive short-comings kept him from being chosen for Canada's Olympic team and may start to effect his game and ice time in Washington. Injuries ended his career with the North Stars much too early. Harvey was eventually dealt to the New York Rangers when he supported Ted Lindsays attempt to start a players association. He was famous for his ability to steal the puck from attacking forwards. He was traded to the Winnipeg Jets after eight seasons in Buffalo for Winnipeg icon Dale Hawerchuk. A big party started in Boston Garden. He also won the Conn Smythe in 1977-78 with 21 points in 15 playoff games to tie with Guy Lafleur for the team playoff scoring lead. Chris Chelios was always a good skater who could distribute the puck and had a reasonable shot. He had four seasons where he got more than 90 points, another six where had between 80 and 89 points and a further two seasons where his point total was in the 70's. Still his .268 goals per game in that period makes him the sixth-best goals per game defenseman of all time among those defenseman who played at least 50 playoff games. Unfortunately for Reed during his last season in Detroit the Red Wings gave up 415 goals while scoring only 266 and winning only 17 of 80 games. Salming endured what was at times brutal treatment with a stoicism and toughness that helped pave the way for every other Swedish player who has come to North America. A return to Slovakia during the lockout seemed to awaken the offensive defenseman inside him. During the 40-second extra period, the Blues could barely keep the puck out of their own zone, opting to dump the puck down to Bostons blue line. But there is one campaign that seems to rise above the rest. Orr earned MVP honors in that game as the East Division All-Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 win over the West Division All-Stars. Orrs regular season totals rest at 270 goals and 645 assists (915 points) in just 657 games. Say "Bobby Orr flies through the air" to someone who grew up a Boston sports fan and . Park is a five-time first-team All-Star, a two-time second-team All-Star and played in nine All-Star Games. Hewon the NHLs hardest shot competition at the All-Star game seven times. During his last six seasons in the NHL he was racked with injuries which severely curtailed his offensive numbers and adversely effected his career averages. He had another four 19 goal seasons. I'd like to see him get a chance to do it. Reed Larson was a mainstay with the Detroit Red Wings. Were forced to take a matchup by one goal during their historic playoff.. 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