Words of Danny O'Bigbelly My idea of a good time

Every once in a while, someone comes along who not only excels at some sport (or art, profession, etc), but does so in a way that not only raises but redefines the game.

I was reminded recently of Bobby Orr, who redefined the game of ice hockey.

Orr’s early career sounds almost like the stuff of legend, but it’s all true. Spotted at the equivalent of a pee-wee hockey game by a talent scout who was at the rink to watch a later game of high-schoolers, Orr was first brought to the attention of the Boston Bruins coaches when he was eleven. By the time he was twelve, he had a contract to play professional hockey for the Bruins — as soon as he was old enough. At age fourteen, the Bruins arranged to have him play for a junior league team (18-20-year-olds) where, despite being the smallest player on the ice, he quickly made a name for himself. There was so much anticipation as Orr grew from a scraggly teenager into an adult that Orr was a superstar in the world of professional hockey before he played his first game as a Bruin, at the tender age of 18.

There was much skepticism that he couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. Stepping out onto the ice with legs that “felt like rubber”, Orr was terrified by the huge crowd before the game began. Nevertheless, he quickly found his rhythm and scored two goals and one assist in the first period. The skeptics were never heard from again. Despite a career shortened by injury, he went on to lead the Bruins (which had before been a lackluster team, to put it mildly) to two Stanley cups, and along the way he picked up nearly every major award in professional hockey, including leading the league in scoring for two years.

But I haven’t told you the game-changing part. Orr lead the league in scoring while he was playing defense.  In fact, his specialty was killing penalties, one of the most difficult assignments in hockey–and he would often change the apparent disadvantage into a scoring opportunity, as shown in what is considered to be one of the greatest goals in hockey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE9s_FaOFPM

The scoring records in hockey are all held by offense-oriented stars like the astonishing Wayne Gretzsky.  But true hockey fans understand the importance of the plus/minus statistic: the number of goals scored while a player is on the ice by the team of the player (plus) and the opposing team (minus).  It may seem impressive to score five goals in a game, but it’s less impressive if your opponent scores six.  On the other hand, it may seem lackluster to score only one goal in a game, but if your opponent scores none, you’ve still won.  Bobby Orr’s plus/minus per game is unparalleled.  When you consider this combined with the handicap of killing power plays, it’s even more impressive.  Bobby Orr’s best season plus/minus was 124 goals, the highest ever recorded, and he has three season plus/minus records in the all-time top ten.  No other player appears more than once in the top ten, and Wayne Gretzsky’s highest season plus/minus is 98, Mario Lemieux’s best season just edges out Orr’s rookie season at 55, and Gordie Howe never did better than 45.

Prior to Orr, defensemen were expected to play defense and forwards were responsible for scoring goals. Sure, a defenseman might score an opportunistic goal now and then, but their primary responsibility is protecting their own goal, not putting pucks into the other. Orr could do it all — kill power plays, defend his own goal, and score. Hockey has never be played the same way since.

And, of course, there’s the designers of the Porsche 917K, who forced racing officials to rewrite the rule book in order to permit any other car to be remotely competitive, but that’s another story…

Who is your game-changing legend?