Best End to End Rusher?

[85highlander]

Could Orr continue to do this in today's league? Is there anyone better from net to net?

Click to read more...

 

[mcphee]

Years ago, when teams still defended the player rather than the area, end to end rushes were common by forwards too. Bobby Hull was the most memorable. Great mixture of power and speed.

 

[nyranger61494]

Simply, to answer your questions...yes and no

 

[BNHL]

Simply, to answer your questions...yes and no

In today's no check, no hook,no touch hockey,he'd have done it more.

 

[nyranger61494]

In today's no check, no hook,no touch hockey,he'd have done it more.

Absolutely he would. I honestly wonder whether he would put up a couple 150 point seasons.

 

[85highlander]

150 pts today for Orr? I was thinking more like 85...

Then again, he's 59 now and his knees are kinda shot!

 

[Transported Upstater]

150 pts today for Orr? I was thinking more like 85...

Then again, he's 59 now and his knees are kinda shot!

Well said.

 

[billbillbill]

Tom Poti

That goal was the highlight of his career.

 

[VanIslander]

Sergei Berezin

One of the greatest end-to-end rushers of all time... who couldn't finish.

He'd take the puck from behind his own net and surge up ice with speed, grace, agility, weaving in and out of four players like a HHOFer, then after beating everyone he'd shoot wide or hit the goalie's jersey smack-centre.

 

[Wisent]

Bobby Orr was great and still he would not be able to do this. He would IMO still be THE outstanding player in the league but he would have a different style. Todays systems don`t allow for this kind of rushes anymore like they did then. He would have to adjust to that as well.

 

[arrbez]

Sergei Berezin

One of the greatest end-to-end rushers of all time... who couldn't finish.

He'd take the puck from behind his own net and surge up ice with speed, grace, agility, weaving in and out of four players like a HHOFer, then after beating everyone he'd shoot wide or hit the goalie's jersey smack-centre.

When me and my buddy play NHL 2003, you are not allowed to use the "pass" button while using Sergei Berezin. Under any circumstances.

 

[ck26]

Bobby Orr could never do this in today's NHL because his coach would yell at him for not dumping the puck in as soon as he crossed the red line.

Edit: every time I watch old videos, I am reminded of how awful goaltending was. Who is the clown at 6:28???

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Orr would still be the best puck rushing defenseman in the game today, but he wouldn't be able to go end to end very often.

The difference between the best player and the worst players has closed significantly over the last 20-30 years.

 

[Ola]

My mentioning doesn't even belong on the same planet as Bobby Orr and the rest in terms of overall impact.

But, Nylanders puckskills are really something special.

He is extremely shiffty, and often you can't even notice it. He often slows down by taking several fast overstepp-strides, and then explodes with ordinary strides.

Its extremely effective, D's don't notice that he slows down since he moves his feet so much, and then are forced to shorten the gap to him, and when they do that he just moves around them accelerating again. Its something he also always uses on the SO, he makes the goalie move into the net fast, then slows down so the goalie have to stop, and then accelerates again.

His stickhandling is also spotless, always got his head up. 15 years from now, I think allot of people will look back at Nyls and say that his stickhandling really was something else. Its hard to appriciate now since he doesn't get so much out of it.

Other players worth mentioning is Brian Leetch and Dennis Savard.

Leetch was extremely impressing gooing slalom through a D. Savard was extremely slippery.

 

[brother52]

Am I the only one who finds plays on this video about 1.5 times slower than today's NHL?

 

[Cake or Death]

It's impossible to say how Orr would fare today. He'd have developed with different conditioning, playing against much better opposition, including goalies who would have stopped 95 percent of those shots, and much better skaters. He still would have the skill and vision to be unusually good, but not to the extent that he was against those slower skaters and weak goalies. Like a few people pointed out, he would have been excellent, but probably in a different way.

Oh, and Paul Coffey is worth mentioning on great end to end rushers IMO.

 

[Cake or Death]

Leetch was extremely impressing gooing slalom through a D

Agreed

 

[Huis Clos*]

There's no doubt that Orr would do the same things today. That kind of talent transcends time.

 

[BNHL]

Am I the only one who finds plays on this video about 1.5 times slower than today's NHL?

Watch any NHL game and decide how much of that game is played at 100% speed,75%,50%? Most of the game is played at half speed,gliding,positioning,timing. The speed thing is overrated at it does not properly explain,define or exploit talent in most cases.Talent is in the mind-a gift. Speed is a physical gift that can be improved but without the natural talent of hockey sense it's worth nothing.

 

[BNHL]

Bobby Orr could never do this in today's NHL because his coach would yell at him for not dumping the puck in as soon as he crossed the red line.

Edit: every time I watch old videos, I am reminded of how awful goaltending was. Who is the clown at 6:28???

Doug Favell? Bruce Gamble? Believe me,no coach on the planet would yell at Orr,Gretzky,Lemieux or Howe. That coach would be soon an ex coach.

 

[85highlander]

It's impossible to say how Orr would fare today. He'd have developed with different conditioning, playing against much better opposition, including goalies who would have stopped 95 percent of those shots, and much better skaters. He still would have the skill and vision to be unusually good, but not to the extent that he was against those slower skaters and weak goalies. Like a few people pointed out, he would have been excellent, but probably in a different way.

While I would tend to agree that the goalies are somewhat better today (at least with all the additional padding there's less net to shoot at), Orr regularly made even the best goalies look pretty silly. And while there were some slower skaters then, he always seemed to find an extra gear or two when needed -- even among the faster skaters -- and I don't think that would significantly change today.

It's not like others would be able to go "end to end" on a regular basis during his time -- the ease with which Orr did this consistently was a rarity for others then as well. I don't know that he would do it today as regularly as then, but it's not like it was common when he was playing either.

 

[Wetcoaster]

150 pts today for Orr? I was thinking more like 85...

Then again, he's 59 now and his knees are kinda shot!

A take off on the old Babe Pratt line when he was asked how he thought Cyclone Taylor would do in the 1970's NHL and he replied 20 goals.

When the interviewer expressed shock the Babe replied well you have to remember the guy is 90 years old.

 

[Wetcoaster]

Orr would still be the best puck rushing defenseman in the game today, but he wouldn't be able to go end to end very often.

The difference between the best player and the worst players has closed significantly over the last 20-30 years.

And there are now defensive systems and traps.

But that said Bobby Orr had that unbelievable overdive gear and when he turned on the jets he could have broken down some of the trapping systems just on speed alone. What set Orr apart was his ability to handle the puck at top speed. The only other player who could compare to that facet of his game was Pavel Bure and he had similar knee probelms from going all out.

Orr was not adverse to the give and go and he was known to chip a puck by a checker on a shoot-in, recover it, cirdle the net and score or set up Espo for a tap-in.

In addition to Bure the other player who would wind up behind his own net and take off was Bobby Hull. In his case he was a great skater but so strong checkers would often just bounce off as he rushed up the ice. And then when he let fly............

 

[Zine]

Am I the only one who finds plays on this video about 1.5 times slower than today's NHL?

Not at all.......Orr looks like the only player who could play today. Everybody's super slow and falling down all over the place. Goalies look seriously worse than junior level. Their positioning is absolutely atrocious

 

[Big Phil]

You've got to remember nowadays its shunned for a guy to express his talent that way. Do you not think Scott Niedermayer couldnt once in a while skate through a team end to end? Sure he could with his speed. But players are afraid, or are less confident or afriad of screwing up or whatever it is. Orr wasnt. He was so confident with the puck. Look at the way he'd kill a penalty. I appreciate a good penalty killer but nowadays when a defenseman has the puck he just slaps it down the ice instead of taking it back behind the net and away from the players. Orr did all that. And my guess is that in today's NHL he'd do much of the same. He'd want to skate end to end all the time and wouldnt just dump it in, therefore he'd do these end to end rushes more often.

So few players nowadays use their natural skill to the full extent. Spezza rarely goes a shift without trying a dipsy doodle or a pretty pass. Crosby is always trying to split the D and get a shot on net, and how many tims in his young career has he been successful? Quite a few. Bure used his mind boggling speed. Ditto for Coffey. Savard took advantage of the fact that he was like a slippery eel on the ice. Lecavalier is another guy that will at least attempt to beat a guy one on one. Wed see more rushes nowadays if players just tried. Bouwmeester is another example, does he even know how fast he is?