Boston Bruins-3 best defensemen of all time?

Randall Graves*

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Can the argument be made that the Boston Bruins had the 3 best defensemen in NHL history for the bulk of their careers? Of course i'm talking about Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore(this seems to be a consensus top 2)and Ray Bourque.

And if you want to stretch it further you could say they had 4 of the top 10 of all time if you include Brad Park.
 

pappyline

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Can the argument be made that the Boston Bruins had the 3 best defensemen in NHL history for the bulk of their careers? Of course i'm talking about Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore(this seems to be a consensus top 2)and Ray Bourque.

And if you want to stretch it further you could say they had 4 of the top 10 of all time if you include Brad Park.
I don't think Shore is a consensus "2. Many would have Harvey ahead of him and most would definitely have harvey ahead of Bourque.

I saw an interesting TV interview a couple of years ago in Boston with Orr, Park, & Bourque. Park actually played with both for short periods and if Orr had stayed in Boston and had a normal length career, all 3 could have been on the same team at the same time. What a fight for power play time that would be.
 

God Bless Canada

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Can the argument be made that the Boston Bruins had the 3 best defensemen in NHL history for the bulk of their careers? Of course i'm talking about Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore(this seems to be a consensus top 2)and Ray Bourque.

And if you want to stretch it further you could say they had 4 of the top 10 of all time if you include Brad Park.
And they also had Dit Clapper, who is one of the top 20 of all-time.

The answer to your question is no. I rate Eddie Shore at No. 2, but there are a lot of people who have Doug Harvey in that position. (For what it's worth, Harvey finished ahead of Shore, along with Beliveau and Bobby Hull, in the THN top 100). Most who don't have Harvey at No. 2 would have him at No. 3.
 

Psycho Papa Joe

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Orr is #1, but after that there is very little consensus amoung 5 or 6 guys. Potvin, Bourque, Robinson, Harvey, Shore and Kelly all have legitimate claims to the top 2-5 spots. Very arguable who was better amongst those guys.
 

Sens Rule

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Orr is #1, but after that there is very little consensus amoung 5 or 6 guys. Potvin, Bourque, Robinson, Harvey, Shore and Kelly all have legitimate claims to the top 2-5 spots. Very arguable who was better amongst those guys.

Well I think Harvey and Shore have a pretty large concensus of being in the top 3. Not many put Potvin, Bourque or Robinson, Kelly ahead of them.

Not many but Robinson ahead of Bourque or Potvin either.
 

1971

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Can the argument be made that the Boston Bruins had the 3 best defensemen in NHL history for the bulk of their careers? Of course i'm talking about Bobby Orr, Eddie Shore(this seems to be a consensus top 2)and Ray Bourque.

And if you want to stretch it further you could say they had 4 of the top 10 of all time if you include Brad Park.

You are right on the money with Bobby Orr and Eddie Shore, but I would consider Ray Bourque to be the 5th or 6th best D of all time. I would put Brad Park ahead of Ray Bourque and I would also put Nick Lidstrom ahead of Ray Bourque and then you also have Doug Harvey.

The Bruins had the best defencman who ever played the game and had Eddie Shore who along with Doug Harvey are a shoe in for the 2nd best of all time.
 

ForsbergForever

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If Boston had gotten Chris Pronger or Niklas Lidstrom for instance, they could have claim to have had arguabley the best defenceman of four of last five generations, Shore (26-40) , Harvey (47-63), Orr (66-76) , Bourque (79-01), next guy (91/93-present), as it is though, they have been graced with some of the greatest blue line talent ever.
 

arrbez

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You are right on the money with Bobby Orr and Eddie Shore, but I would consider Ray Bourque to be the 5th or 6th best D of all time. I would put Brad Park ahead of Ray Bourque and I would also put Nick Lidstrom ahead of Ray Bourque and then you also have Doug Harvey.

The Bruins had the best defencman who ever played the game and had Eddie Shore who along with Doug Harvey are a shoe in for the 2nd best of all time.

Lidstrom ahead of Bourque?
 

NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS

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You are right on the money with Bobby Orr and Eddie Shore, but I would consider Ray Bourque to be the 5th or 6th best D of all time. I would put Brad Park ahead of Ray Bourque and I would also put Nick Lidstrom ahead of Ray Bourque and then you also have Doug Harvey.

The Bruins had the best defencman who ever played the game and had Eddie Shore who along with Doug Harvey are a shoe in for the 2nd best of all time.

The only thing Lidstrom is better at than Bourque is speaking Swedish.
 

Randall Graves*

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And they also had Dit Clapper, who is one of the top 20 of all-time.

The answer to your question is no. I rate Eddie Shore at No. 2, but there are a lot of people who have Doug Harvey in that position. (For what it's worth, Harvey finished ahead of Shore, along with Beliveau and Bobby Hull, in the THN top 100). Most who don't have Harvey at No. 2 would have him at No. 3.
I always thought Shore was considered the 2nd best defensemen, of course Doug Harvey can make that claim as well but I had always thought Shore was #2 and i'm sure plenty of old school Bruins fans may feel that way :)
 

Psycho Papa Joe

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Well I think Harvey and Shore have a pretty large concensus of being in the top 3. Not many put Potvin, Bourque or Robinson, Kelly ahead of them.

Not many but Robinson ahead of Bourque or Potvin either.

I personally have Robinson and Potvin ahead on my list. Bourque was a great player, but IMO Robinson and Potvin could do more things at a A level than Bourque. I know I'm in the minority in rating Robinson ahead of those guys, but there is something to be said for a d-man who was never a - player in his career, and has the best career +/- of any player ever. I just don't think Bourque had the killer instinct Robinson and Potvin had either.
 

Bluesfan1981

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No way. Orr and Shore are certainly in the Top 3, but Harvey is easily ahead of Bourque.
 
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mcphee

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I personally have Robinson and Potvin ahead on my list. Bourque was a great player, but IMO Robinson and Potvin could do more things at a A level than Bourque. I know I'm in the minority in rating Robinson ahead of those guys, but there is something to be said for a d-man who was never a - player in his career, and has the best career +/- of any player ever. I just don't think Bourque had the killer instinct Robinson and Potvin had either.

Robinson over Bourque ? The homer in me is tempted to agree but I think Bourque was dominant with less, if that makes any sense. Robinson was fearless in that he'd try a high risk pass up the middle, confident that Serge would cover up, or he'd just get the goal back later.

Bourque just owned his side of the ice. The one thing about Bourque is that while he put up numbers early in his career, I thought he was vulnerable one on one. Sometimes we tend to think they entered the league great when it isn't the case.

I guess if I'm drafting, I take Bourque first, but I'd rather someone else took him before, because if Robinson's not my all time favorite, he's pretty close.
 

Alex1587

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Orr was probably the greatest d-man of his era but he was follow very closely by Robinson and Savard.Harvey was a great d-man two.I think montreal has the best d-man il place anytime Harvey Robinson or even Savard ahead of Bourque and Shore.To that list we can add chelios who play for montreal for some year.Si if we see that in overall if the best d-man ever from Montreal and Boston play against Montreal would probably have the upper hand.
 

raleh

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Orr was probably the greatest d-man of his era but he was follow very closely by Robinson and Savard.Harvey was a great d-man two.I think montreal has the best d-man il place anytime Harvey Robinson or even Savard ahead of Bourque and Shore.To that list we can add chelios who play for montreal for some year.Si if we see that in overall if the best d-man ever from Montreal and Boston play against Montreal would probably have the upper hand.

First of all, I'll preface by saying I'm a huge habs fan. However, Harvey is the only hab I would put ahead of Shore and Bourque and I consider my placing Harvey ahead of Shore as somewhat of a homer pick (but since I can make a case for him, I do). Orr was not followed very closely by Robinson and Savard. The only thing Orr is/was followed very closely in is by Gretzky when discussing the question as to who was the greatest player of all time. I would take an all time Bruins defence over an all time habs defence any day. I'd take an all time habs team when you factor in goalies and forwards, but Boston has the best all time defence in the league.Top 2, top 4, top 6...Harvey is the only habs defenceman of all time that would be guaranteed a top four job in Boston (Orr, Shore, Bourque, Park). I would put Robinson ahead of Park, but it's pretty even. Savard, Lapointe, Chelios- these guys would all be 5th or 6th on Boston's depth chart in my books.
 

mcphee

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First of all, I'll preface by saying I'm a huge habs fan. However, Harvey is the only hab I would put ahead of Shore and Bourque and I consider my placing Harvey ahead of Shore as somewhat of a homer pick (but since I can make a case for him, I do). Orr was not followed very closely by Robinson and Savard. The only thing Orr is/was followed very closely in is by Gretzky when discussing the question as to who was the greatest player of all time. I would take an all time Bruins defence over an all time habs defence any day. I'd take an all time habs team when you factor in goalies and forwards, but Boston has the best all time defence in the league.Top 2, top 4, top 6...Harvey is the only habs defenceman of all time that would be guaranteed a top four job in Boston (Orr, Shore, Bourque, Park). I would put Robinson ahead of Park, but it's pretty even. Savard, Lapointe, Chelios- these guys would all be 5th or 6th on Boston's depth chart in my books.
As a pairing though, did anyone do the job better than Robinson/Savard ?
 

raleh

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As a pairing though, did anyone do the job better than Robinson/Savard ?

Probably not...the fact that the habs had three of their top five of all time on the team together is pretty incredible. Had Orr stayed in the league a little longer he may have teamed up with Park to be the best duo of all time though...but it never happened so it really doesn't need to be said.

On a side note, thinking of defensive pairings, did Kelly play any shifts on defence in Toronto and if so was he ever paired with Horton?
 

mcphee

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Probably not...the fact that the habs had three of their top five of all time on the team together is pretty incredible. Had Orr stayed in the league a little longer he may have teamed up with Park to be the best duo of all time though...but it never happened so it really doesn't need to be said.

On a side note, thinking of defensive pairings, did Kelly play any shifts on defence in Toronto and if so was he ever paired with Horton?
I don't know. I read that Imlach acquired him to play C, against Beliveau in particular. I always think of Horton/Stanley together.
 

Know Your Enemy

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Probably not...the fact that the habs had three of their top five of all time on the team together is pretty incredible. Had Orr stayed in the league a little longer he may have teamed up with Park to be the best duo of all time though...but it never happened so it really doesn't need to be said.

On a side note, thinking of defensive pairings, did Kelly play any shifts on defence in Toronto and if so was he ever paired with Horton?

The reason the Bruins traded for Park was because they knew Orr would not be around for much longer. If they were confident that Orr could stick around for a few more seasons playing at a high level I don't think they would've made the Park trade.

One of the best duos in terms of defensive play must have been the Horton-Stanley duo, they were both absolute rocks defensively.
 

raleh

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Not at the same level, but if Clancy and Horner were on the ice much together they would be pretty tough to beat as well. Yeah Speaker you're right about the Park deal, but I just like to imagine the two of them out there together in their primes. And Mcphee, I've heard that about the Kelly deal too.
 

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