It can not be argued that Bobby Orr left a lasting impression on the game of hockey. However, there is argument as to what sort of impression it was. While many like to think, either due to ignorance or delusion, that Orr was a great player who left a positive mark on hockey, this is simply untrue. The fact of the matter is, Bobby Orr directly contributed to the decline of the game of hockey unlike any other player before or since.
Bobby Orr came into the game at a time when professional “athletes” were at a level of skill and athleticism that today would be surpassed in the early teen years. Orr, being a moderately good athlete, was given the opportunity to wreak havoc on the league in a shameful, self-indulgent manner. Orr’s conduct in those days would be similar to a professional hockey team today going to a children’s tournament and then bragging because they won. There is absolutely nothing throughout the career of Bobby Orr for Orr or his fans to take pride in.
Orr’s shameful on-ice conduct unfortunately began to catch on and soon young children were emulating their “hero” Bobby Orr in games and practices. Hockey went from being a team sport that rewards teamwork and group accomplishments to a mockery where every player on the ice had only themselves in mind. Players forgot that there were others on the ice, defensemen forgot that their job was to help protect the net and chaos ensued.
The massive Goals-Against Average spike recorded across minor hockey in Canada and the Northern United States between 1968 and 1981 is directly related to children being exposed to Bobby Orr on television, and its lasting effects. Luckily, in the early 1990s the effects of Orr’s reign of terror finally began to wear off. However, at the highest level of hockey, you still see the lasting impression of one of its “greatest heroes”. Anytime you’re watching your favourite team and a player selfishly ignores his teammates and goes on a one man drive down the ice, only to lose the puck, say to yourself “we’d still have the puck if it weren’t for Bobby Orr”. It’s the sad truth. Every time a selfish play costs a team, Bobby Orr laughs and smiles.
However, even back then, there were real heroes. Real hockey players who played the game as a team, and knew their roles. Players like Pat Quinn. Pat Quinn was a defensemen just like Orr. The difference however, is that Quinn knew what his job was and didn’t think of himself as a god among men. While Orr was doing laps around the rink with the puck, Quinn was playing hockey the way it’s meant to be played. Thankfully true hockey prevailed, at least for one night, when in a 1969 playoff game Pat Quinn knocked Bobby Orr unconscious with a devastating hit. Some say Orr was never the same. Some say Quinn threw a dirty elbow. We say elbow or not, if it puts a player like Bobby Orr in his place, then there should be an award attached to it.
Pat Quinn was only the first soldier in a small army of men dedicated to returning hockey to a sport of gentlemen, where team play and good sportsmanship are valued, not thrown aside for selfishness and flashy shenanigans. We here at NoMoreOrr.com continue that fight to this day, and with your help, we can strike the final blow and help bring hockey back to being the great game it once was. If you love hockey then the choice is clear. NO MORE ORR.