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

[Your old Jofa helmet]

at 10:33 the supposed greatest defenceman of all time...

Let's be honest here.

 

[unknown33]

The difference is extremely overblown, it's getting really annoying.

Some people genuinely believe EVERY player today is an evolved superhuman and all players from the 60s were in worse shape than your average guy in his 30s who works an office job.

Sure today the AVERAGE might be better, but there is a huge variance between individual players.
There are really fit players, but also fat and undersized ones today. Some have professionalism and work ethic, others are notoriously lazy.

 

[Ward Cornell]

The difference is extremely overblown, it's getting really annoying.

Some people genuinely believe EVERY player today is an evolved superhuman and all players from the 60s were in worse shape than your average guy in his 30s who works an office job.

BINGO....

From a person who has watched hockey since the late 50's...Orr would be the best defenceman in the league now and may actually still be the best overall player. Ditto for another other past greats with the same advantages as todays modern players have!

Some of these comments by posters are utterly laugheable!

 

[04' hockey]

you young guys are a riot

Orr, today, would be the best player in the league.....you think all that much time has gone by since he played ?, believe me it hasn't ..... I used to broadcast all the time just you guys today but as you get older you learn and adjust your analyses and opinions as you become more educated about things you observe, things you can only do over time and experience .

Orr won 2 scoring titles, why hasn't ANY Dman won it since ?? Watch some videos when he takes off with the puck he's by himself most of the time, today he'd have faster players keeping up with him and he'd score even more.

You guys missed the best ever and I think that's the reason for all this criticism

Half of a great talent is his physical skills....the other half between his ears, that was Orrs' advantage

 

[Bieber fever]

Come one man...50 years ago lol he would be in the AHL at best.there were still part time nhler in the 60's

 

[Hockeypete49]

Bobby would get ****ed up.

Never saw Bobby out of shape. Now Phil............

 

[Knave]

And that's just BS.

Most of us have seen the shirtless pics of Hull, Howe, Orr, etc...so I will not post them.

The big difference is that instead if lifting weights and being in the ice all summer, they were working on their farm, bailing hay, etc... To say no one had muscles is just dumb.

Now was is much more lenient? For sure. But it's not like these gust were like Big Papi in the summer time.

So you talk about some of the biggest stars of their time... how fit they were.

It's almost like in a much worse league their abilities were hugely exaggerated compared to the superstars of today.

Almost. Maybe. Just a little.

 

[Mike Liut]

Let's be honest here.

That's college hockey quality in today's game

 

[Mr Positive]

Imo, the talent level of the league has gone way up, but the high level players would be high level players in any era. That goes both ways too. Orr would be an elite player in today's game, but also remember that Karlsson might be able to get 122 points in 74 games like Orr did (edit: or 135 in 80 lol) if he could play in that era.

Imo, if Orr were in today's game he would be the best Dman in the league. And yes, footage of that time seems to show he had an easier time than players today have, but he would adjust his game quite easily imo, and still rise to the top

 

[Hockeypete49]

you young guys are a riot

Orr, today, would be the best player in the league.....you think all that much time has gone by since he played ?, believe me it hasn't ..... I used to broadcast all the time just you guys today but as you get older you learn and adjust your analyses and opinions as you become more educated about things you observe, things you can only do over time and experience .

Orr won 2 scoring titles, why hasn't ANY Dman won it since ?? Watch some videos when he takes off with the puck he's by himself most of the time, today he'd have faster players keeping up with him and he'd score even more.

You guys missed the best ever and I think that's the reason for all this criticism

Half of a great talent is his physical skills....the other half between his ears, that was Orrs' advantage

I hear you. The things he could do still amaze me. Imagine would he could have done with today's modern medicine! What he did with bad wheels back then. The greatest defenseman I ever saw play and top two or three players all time. Yes he was that good hands down.
PS: And this is coming from a guy who hated boston.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Some elements of the game have improved. Maybe even most.

However, nobody thinks the game today as well as the greatest of all time used to think the game.

And that, hockey sense, is the most transferable quality a hockey player can have.

If Hal Gill can use his long reach and his hockey sense to survive up until three seasons ago, if Jaromir Jagr can still produce points at age 45 mainly because of his large ass and his hockey sense, then a Bobby Orr would do just fine thank you very much.

Most players in the game today expect the expected from every other player. That is why the extraordinary talents still produce at a high level. They tend to zig when they're expected to zag.

Nowadays, most players rely on their coach's hockey sense instead of their own. With obvious exceptions being the elite.

 

[Hockeypete49]

Come one man...50 years ago lol he would be in the AHL at best.there were still part time nhler in the 60's

LOL 50 years ago the guys in the AHL would be starters on teams today.

 

[ijuka]

He wouldn't be very good. He was good for his time but hockey's evolved a lot.

By that I don't mean that he wouldn't be an NHLer by the way.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

People also tend to forget that although he would be playing against these modern day super humans... he'd also be playing with them.

Given some time to adjust and access to modern equipment as allowed by the OP... Orr would probably be the best player in the league

 

[Foppa]

If Connor McDavid took a time machine from 2017 to 1970 and had to live, train, and earn a living the way players in the 60's had to, how good would he be?

This is a silly argument - people are shaped by the world they live in...you can play this same game in reverse. What if McDavid grew up on a farm, had to work summers, didn't have sports/nutrional science as we know it, didn't have sports medicine as we know it, wasn't fast-tracked on a 100% hockey life from a wee age and wasn't set for life financially after a single professional season?

I suspect he'd still be quite brilliant because of what is between the ears and having a passion for the game. But who knows? Maybe he gets injured in a way they can't fix properly? Maybe he is concussed into to oblivion in a junior game without the benefit of modern gear. Maybe without the benefit of sponsors and trainers and huge coaching staffs - he just loses interest in being great with the drags of real life at the time.

To ask the question of Orr and not to let him have any of the advantages of the modern era - you might as well be comparing guys playing two different sports. Guys today aren't better hockey players - they are better at being NHL players in the modern world's NHL.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

He would have a really hard time sticking in the NHL, if he were put in a time machine from the 70s.

A LOT has happened the past 40:ish years. The game is much better and faster than it was only 20 years ago.

Wouldn't be fair to him and his legacy.

 

[ijuka]

If Connor McDavid took a time machine from 2017 to 1970 and had to live, train, and earn a living the way players in the 60's had to, how good would he be?

McDavid would absolutely obliterate NHL in 1970.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

McDavid would absolutely obliterate NHL in 1970.

You didn't really read that whole post did you?

 

[Knave]

Some elements of the game have improved. Maybe even most.

However, nobody thinks the game today as well as the greatest of all time used to think the game.

And that, hockey sense, is the most transferable quality a hockey player can have.

If Hal Gill can use his long reach and his hockey sense to survive up until three seasons ago, if Jaromir Jagr can still produce points at age 45 mainly because of his large ass and his hockey sense, then a Bobby Orr would do just fine thank you very much.

Most players in the game today expect the expected from every other player. That is why the extraordinary talents still produce at a high level. They tend to zig when they're expected to zag.

Nowadays, most players rely on their coach's hockey sense instead of their own. With obvious exceptions being the elite.

Hilarious. So all the players from the past were great thinkers of the game but today no one isn't.

I'll bet against you any day.

 

[AvroArrow]

If you took Bobby Orr with that skill and athleticism he would get destroyed in the modern NHL.

If Bobby Orr was exposed to todays training, development, nutrition he would probably be like Karlsson.

It's unfair to compare the 2 eras

 

[Paralyzer]

...He'd get a Sports Almanac on all the scores from 1970-2017 and own the world.

 

[Theokritos]

If you stick with what the OP said...

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

...then the answer can only be: Orr would struggle mightily. As much as Sidney Crosby would struggle with his modern training and playstyle if he was sent back to 1967 with a time machine. Imagine him with the old-style skates, he would look like someone who was on the ice for the very first time. Apparently a complete amateur, benched after two shifts.

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

This post wins the thread for me.

 

[MoreMorrissey]

Ok let's transport someone with 1960's training into 2017, seems fair. The only thing you can do is compare people to their peer groups and Bobby dominated his ala Karlsson does today.

 

[mitchmagic]

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

Evolution doesn't happen over 50 years................

...

 

[MonarchFlames]

It's funny how people discredit Lemieux, Gretzky, Orr or Howe. I'll give you an example.

From 1997 to 2000, Mario Lemieux wasn't playing. That's 3 years worth of missing action in the NHL. He comes back and puts up 76 pts in 43 games. You guys really dont think a prime Mario Lemieux wouldn't destroy the NHL? GTFO he'd be AINEC the best player in the league. Same goes for the other three.