Throwdowns > Closed

Resistance is Foos-tile said 02/03, 01:10 PM
In a current TD you said the following...

"granted he was the best of his era and could that boy fly but the numbers speak for themselves...but to belittle what Luc accomplished because he played in a high scoring era is like saying Gretzky was better than Orr..."

I'm calling you out ....

I'm taking Gretzky you've got Orr...


Gretzky
20 Seasons
1487 Regular Season NHL Games Played
894 Career Goals #1 all-time
1963 Assists #1 all-time
2857 Points #1 all-time
40 Career Regular Season NHL records including most Goals in a season (92) and most points in a season (215) and most consecutive point scoring streak (51 games)
15 Career NHL Playoff records including most career points in playoffs (382 points) and most points in 1 playoff year (47 points).

Bobby Orr
9 Full NHL Seasons (plus parts of 3 others)
657 Regular Season NHL games played
270 Goals
645 Assists
915 points


DON'T SING IT .... BRING IT!

Resistance is Foos-tile said 02/04, 09:09 AM
"Bobby Orr redefined what a defenseman is"

That's an interesting statement considering that Doug Harvey was Bobby Orr before Bobby Orr was.
Doug Harvey used his passing and skating ability to be the spark plug in the Canadiens scoring machine in the 50's and early 60's. He like Orr had amazing puck control and could dictate the pace of a game by himself.
Harvey DEFINED what a defenseman could be...Orr merely perfected it and took it to the next level.

The argument against Orr is the fact that he only played 9 full NHL seasons. There would be little or no dispute of Orr being #1 if he had a longer career. But since his NHL Hockey career was so short most experts rank him as runner-up to Gretzky.

In 1998 Gretzky and Orr were ranked #1 & #2 by the Hockey News on the "Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time".

Gretzky's #99 has been retired by all NHL teams. Jackie Robinson's #42 is the other athlete to have his number retired by a major pro sports league.

Sure Orr won 3 consecutive Hart Trophies (NHL MVP) from 1969-70, 70-71 & 71-72 (his only 3) but Gretzky won 9 Harts (including 8 in a row from the 79-80 to 86-87 season & then the 88-89 season).

Resistance is Foos-tile said 02/04, 11:51 AM
"I remember when the Hockey News did that Top 100...it was flawed then as it is now. They had Yzerman ranked 78 so take that list with a grain of salt"

You have more holes in your argument than a box of KRISPY KREMES.

1st off it was published in 98. Yzerman played until 2006 (7 more seasons).
THN is widely considered as the most unbiased & best hockey publication there is. The Top 100 players was voted on by over 20 NHL experts.

If Orr was really the greatest then why did he not win more than 3 Hart Trophies as NHL MVP?
His next 3 seasons (72-73, 73-74 & 74-75) after he won his last Hart (71-72) were just as good if not better.
In 74-75 he set the record for most goals by a DMan (46, broken by Paul Coffey in 85-86 with 48). That year was Orr's & 2nd most productive season ever...yet Bobby Clarke had won it that year.

When Gretzky was traded to the Kings it lead to major expansion in the NHL, including 2 more francises in Califorina. His impact was far greater than just on the ice.

Orr was the dominant player in the game for a short period of time in the 70's but Gretzky was the most dominant player in the game ever period.

Hence the nickname 'The Great One'.