Did You Know Tuesday

Did you know that the youngest player ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr at the age of 31? The 3-year waiting period for nomination was dropped when Orr was forced to retire (as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks) in 1979 because of continuing knee problems that plagued him his entire career.

Despite the bad knees, Orr’s amazing abilities and skill have made him one of the greatest hockey players of all time, and that’s not just blowing smoke. Check out these amazing stats:

--won 2 Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins (1970 and 1972)
--is the only hockey player to ever win the Norris Trophy (top defenseman), Art Ross Trophy (points), Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP for a team), and Conn Smythe Trophy (Stanley Cup MVP) in one season (1970)
--won Norris Trophy additionally in 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975
--won Art Ross Trophy additionally in the 1974-75 season in which he became the ONLY defenseman to EVER lead the league in scoring
--won the Hart Trophy additionally in 1971 and 1972
--won the Conn Smythe Trophy again in 1972, becoming the first NHL player to win this award twice
--first defenseman to score 40 goals in a season (1974-75)
--the highest +/- (+124) in one season ever in the NHL (1970-71)

Upon his retirement, Gordie Howe said, ""Losing Bobby was the greatest blow the National Hockey League has ever suffered."

Orr played for the Bruins from 1966 – 1976 before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in a deal that has since been exposed as fraudulent due to lies and deceit of his then agent, lawyer Alan Eagleson who was buddies with the owners of the Chicago Blackhawks. However, because of his ongoing knee problems, Orr was only able to play 26 games with the Blackhawks over his three years there. He never cashed any of his paychecks from the Blackhawks because he said he was paid to play hockey, and if he couldn’t play, then he wouldn’t take the money from them. What an amazing guy, athlete and person.

You can have your Wayne Gretzkys, Guy Lafleurs, Rocket Richards, Mike Bossys, Mario Lemieuxs….all great hockey players without a doubt. But for me, the greatest hockey player of all time was Bobby Orr, who resides in the Boston area and is a player agent for the great Boston Bruins.

Bobby's number 4 was retired by the Boston Bruins and raised to the rafters of Boston Garden in 1979.

Orr will be 61 on March 20th of this year.