If Bobby Orr took a time machine from 1970 to 2017...

[FoxyClean]

With solely his 60s training and playstyle, how would he do on next year's Bruins, in a vastly different 2017 league?

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[Oneiro]

Bobby would get ****ed up.

 

[Zorf]

Phil Esposito said that players used training camp to get in shape for the season, so he'd come to camp way out of shape.

 

[enthusiast]

He wouldn't fit with their culture.

 

[member 105785]

In the 60's people smoked cigars and drank beer in the locker room. I recall someone, maybe Ray Ferraro, saying that nobody had muscles in the old NHL, today you have to work out constantly to get your shot. Honestly he probably would be an AHL player.

 

[tarheelhockey]

In the 60's people smoked cigars and drank beer in the locker room.

This is so overblown.

News flash, players drink beer in the locker room in 2017.

 

[member 105785]

This is so overblown.

News flash, players drink beer in the locker room in 2017.

Drinking after a game is different from drinking between periods

 

[Legionnaire]

In the 60's people smoked cigars and drank beer in the locker room. I recall someone, maybe Ray Ferraro, saying that nobody had muscles in the old NHL, today you have to work out constantly to get your shot. Honestly he probably would be an AHL player.

Totally right. Take Mitch Marner for example. Dude is only in the NHL because he's totally ripped and can bench press a truck - the NHL is a fitness league and talent doesn't matter at all.

Edit: And gotta say I'm glad they finally added a pose off to the All-Star Game Skill Competition. It's about time! Shooting the puck? Pfft. What do you look with your shirt off dude?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Drinking after a game is different from drinking between periods

I'm sure that at some point in time, some player actually did this. Many thousands of games have been played.

It wasn't anything remotely approaching a common event, in any era.

I'd be willing to bet that there were more sober players on the ice in 1967 than in 2017, if you include the influence of pharmaceuticals and up-the-nose drugs under the umbrella of "not sober".

 

[Sens Rule]

Phil Esposito said that players used training camp to get in shape for the season, so he'd come to camp way out of shape.

I think Esposito likely showed up to training camp in poor shape. Has anyone every seen Bobby Orr in poor shape? Gordie Howe?

Lots of players showed up in poor shape. I don't believe Orr was one of those players.

Give him current equipment and a computer to watch tape in July and by October 1st he is as good or better than Erik Karlsson.

 

[authentic]

Anyone who truly thinks he would anything in the NHL if transported from his time is fooling themselves. The league in 1970 was an utter embarassment even compared to the NHL in 1990, which was very different and much worse overall (especially the goaltending and defensive play) than the current NHL. I have serious doubts Gretzky from the late 80s or early 90s would crack an NHL roster as he was if his name was Ron Sherman and had the same exact build and skillset Gretzky did back then. Seems crazy to some people, but not if you watch without the nostalgia goggles on. Bobby Orr would be lucky to do much in the AHL, infact I bet he wouldn't make any team there.

 

[authentic]

I think Esposito likely showed up to training camp in poor shape. Has anyone every seen Bobby Orr in poor shape? Gordie Howe?

Lots of players showed up in poor shape. I don't believe Orr was one of those players.

Give him current equipment and a computer to watch tape in July and by October 1st he is as good or better than Erik Karlsson.

That's insane.

 

[authentic]

Let's be honest here.

 

[LiveeviL]

Let's be honest here.

I am glad that the sport has evolved...

 

[Wild-Sabres]

So 1970's Bobby Orr has a time machine? He should go back to the 1950's and win 13 straight Norris trophies.

 

[President of Hockey]

He would not need to play anymore because he could sell the time mashine for a trazillion dollars

 

[KaseMeOutside]

With solely his 60s training and playstyle, how would he do on next year's Bruins, in a vastly different 2017 league?

How come he doesn't get to benefit from evolution?

 

[authentic]

How come he doesn't get to benefit from evolution?

No one knows what that would look like though. Could be best in the league, could be 3rd pairing defenseman on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

[Legionnaire]

How come he doesn't get to benefit from evolution?

The human race did not made some giant evolutionary leap in the last 50 years.

 

[authentic]

I am glad that the sport has evolved...

Yeah, no doubt. The improvement from the 70s to the late 80's was massive. Probably the biggest 15-20 year evolutionary period in the game, followed closely by the 15-20 after. It's almost shocking how bad they were then compared to recent hockey, these videos don't even do it justice compared to watching full classic games on television. It's literally a different world. Junior A teams, not even OHL, are easily better than those teams there. Claiming anyone straight from that time would be remotely close to a very good player in todays NHL is nothing short of a complete fairytale.

 

[authentic]

The human race did not made some giant evolutionary leap in the last 50 years.

Dumbest argument ever. There are significant improvements made over long periods of time in any pro sport, especially one where the equipment, training, goaltending and coaching/strategies are lightyears ahead of where they were in the distant past. There isn't a single player in any sport that has better skill and ability in that sport than the best player 30-50 years later. Because humans aren't evolving at a rapid rate, Bobby Orr was the best hockey player ever (even though we can see for ourselves he clearly wasn't close). Okay then.

 

[Legionnaire]

Dumbest argument ever. There are significant improvements made over the course of time in any pro sport, especially one where the equipment, training, goaltending and coaching/strategies are lightyears ahead of where they were in the distant past. There isn't a single player in any sport that has better skill and ability in that sport than the best player 30-50 years later. Because humans aren't evolving at a rapid rate, Bobby Orr was the best hockey player ever (even though we can see for ourselves he clearly wasn't close). Okay then.

You're confusing the technological advances that you mention with human evolution.

It makes no sense to believe that any of those players from the past would perform worse with perfectly fitting, lightweight skates? How about the composite sticks?

Also, what you seeing, which you don't see and aren't really grasping, is that those old technology. The game looks so much better on TV then it did. No HD, and far few cameras and camera angles, make the game look slow in comparison, but it wasn't. The game was just as fast since I've been watching live as it is today.

 

[The Undertaker]

Erik Karlsson lite

 

[authentic]

You're confusing the technological advances that you mention with human evolution.

It makes no sense to believe that any of those players from the past would perform worse with perfectly fitting, lightweight skates? How about the composite sticks?

Also, what you seeing, which you don't really grasping, is that those old technology. The game looks so much better on TV then it did. No HD, and far few cameras and camera angles, make the game look slow in comparison, but it wasn't. The game was just as fast since I've been watching live as it is today.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Dumbest argument ever. There are significant improvements made over long periods of time in any pro sport, especially one where the equipment, training, goaltending and coaching/strategies are lightyears ahead of where they were in the distant past. There isn't a single player in any sport that has better skill and ability in that sport than the best player 30-50 years later. Because humans aren't evolving at a rapid rate, Bobby Orr was the best hockey player ever (even though we can see for ourselves he clearly wasn't close). Okay then.

You're mixing up two different things here.

The human body has not evolved in the past 40 years, that's an obvious fact. I would argue that even the "hockey body" has just *barely* evolved during that timeframe. Compare Wayne Gretzky's physique to Patrick Kane's. Compare Carey Price's physique to Patrick Roy's. Compare Alex Ovechkin's physique to Mario Lemieux's. There are some differences (players are taller, and they've fine-tuned some aspects of nutrition and training) but by and large, the same general physique that was successful in 1980 is still successful in 2017. People are often shocked at seeing NHL players with their shirts off, because this is one sport where balance, motor coordination, and learned skills are all far more important than muscle mass. If you want to say that today's players are physically superior to those of Orr's era, you're not wrong -- but it's not an overwhelmingly important factor like it would be if we were talking basketball or football.

Separate from that, there's the visible performance on the ice. You're saying we can look at Orr and just "tell" that he's not as good as a modern player. But that's not remotely fair to a guy who's skating on tube skates, carrying a wooden stick, not even wearing a damn helmet, and sweating into a cotton jersey. There are SO many confounding factors involved, it's just crazy. I mean do you really think you could stick Joffrey Lupul in that equipment and he would look like his modern self?

In any case, I hope you don't actually believe your claims that the very best player on earth 40 years ago is worse than the 1000th best today (or whatever a bad AHL player would be). That's a manifestly ridiculous thing to say.