The closest thing to Bobby Orr ?

[BNHL]

Maybe it's the way I said it, I'm not in any way saying he didn't have top end speed, but he often seemed to calmly beat you, never seeming to sweat while doing it.

You know how a wide receiver can make a db run at his pace then leave him in his dust ? I always thought he had a gear to go to that he didn't use as he seldom needed it. He skated as fast as he had to skate, that's the image I have anyways.

There is certainly a lot of video showing him accelerating,slowing,timing bursts but many many times he flat out outskated people.

 

[Theron]

imo Green has shown flashes of Orr this year a few times...

 

[fashi13]

imo Green has shown flashes of Orr this year a few times...

As a Caps Fan, Green can be really impressive offensively. He is entirely too inconsistent defensively, sometimes he throws great hits and plays very good defense, but those time periods are WAY too short and infrequent. Also, while I think Green is best puck-rushing offensive D-man, He's not close to Orr. Orr was more of a Roaver, he played both ends full time. If Green really dedicates himself to improving defensively, which I think he will start to do after Boudreau called him out, I think he could be one of the best overall D-man in the league. He has all the physical skills.

 

[lextune]

The closest thing...? Hmmm...how about:

1 Coffey (for offensive defenseman skills) +1 Bourque (for two way defenseman skill/awareness) +1 Langway (for pure defense) +1 Gretzky (for hockey sense and ice vision) +2 more Coffey's = Orr.

 

[MXD]

From his toes to his waist, Rico Fata?

 

[brianscot]

I always thought that Gilbert Perreault resembled Orr in his skating style.

A great long stride and ridiculous lateral skating ability.

What makes Orr the most effective skater of all time wasn't his speed, it was his ability to use his skating ability smartly.

He dashed, faded in and out, darted, and sprinted as the situation called for.

Most NHL players can do that also to some measure. What separated Orr was that he could do all those things while maintaining his puck/hand skills and vision at whatever speed he was in.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Orr had years where he might have been the best defensive and best offensive player in the game. I don't think anybody has been remotely close to that since. Potvin's Norris years where he was about 30pts out of the scoring title, and one of the top 10 defensive players, is probably the only guy who comes close to that accomplishment. Bobby Clarke also had years where he was great offensively and might have been the best defensive forward during his Hart years.

 

[ranold26]

No one. Enough said.

 

[Big Phil]

Coffey could skate like him, perhaps better, and offensively he's commonly refered to as the #2 offensive defenseman of all time which I havent heard a legitimate argument otherwise. But it ends there pretty much. Coffey, like Orr, had the ability to get back into position very fast, but he didnt play physical, block shots or have the toughness Orr had. Coffey was very smart on the ice, very smart, but defensively he lacked in that area and it's being generous calling him average defensively. All around he doesnt touch Orr. Potvin and Harvey would be my picks and even then..........

 

[BNHL]

Coffey could skate like him, perhaps better, and offensively he's commonly refered to as the #2 offensive defenseman of all time which I havent heard a legitimate argument otherwise. But it ends there pretty much. Coffey, like Orr, had the ability to get back into position very fast, but he didnt play physical, block shots or have the toughness Orr had. Coffey was very smart on the ice, very smart, but defensively he lacked in that area and it's being generous calling him average defensively. All around he doesnt touch Orr. Potvin and Harvey would be my picks and even then..........

Very smart but below average defensively? He looked like a moron during his last days when his physical gifts declined.

 

[Dark Shadows]

Coffey could skate like him, perhaps better, and offensively he's commonly refered to as the #2 offensive defenseman of all time which I havent heard a legitimate argument otherwise. But it ends there pretty much. Coffey, like Orr, had the ability to get back into position very fast, but he didnt play physical, block shots or have the toughness Orr had. Coffey was very smart on the ice, very smart, but defensively he lacked in that area and it's being generous calling him average defensively. All around he doesnt touch Orr. Potvin and Harvey would be my picks and even then..........

I think Red Kelly fits better than Harvey here. But that's just me. I agree with everything you said about Coffey.

Red Kelly played a less physical game than Orr true, but Defensively he was still spot on, and offensively he was a cut above Harvey or any other Defenseman in his era.

Ill just quote a post from someone who articulates better than I do

Looks like quite a few people already have Kelly on their list already. Here’s my case for why he deserves a top 20 spot.

Detroit’s best player after Howe. Red Kelly was better than two of his teammates currently up for voting: Lindsay and Sawchuk. First, let’s consider the evidence from hockey writers from the 1950s. The Hart trophy voters easily thought that Kelly was the Wings’ best player after Mr. Hockey. Red Kelly finished in the top three in Hart voting three times (1951, 1953, 1954). No other Wing (aside from Howe obviously) made it to the top three during the dynasty years, even once. In fact, Red Kelly alone had as many top-ten finishes as Lindsay and Sawchuk combined.

Even if you don’t think that Hart voting matters, consider this. The Detroit dynasty was able to win a Cup without Sawchuk (1950); they won without Abel (1954, 1955); they could win it even without Howe (1950). Only Kelly and Lindsay were the constants. However, the Wings had a great team in the late 1940s (including Lindsay) but couldn’t win their first Cup until Kelly emerged as an all-star defenseman in 1950. His ability to control both ends of the ice put them over the top.

Kelly’s last year as an all-star defenseman was in 1957 (when the Wings were 1st in the regular season, and Howe and Lindsay finished 1-2 in scoring). In 1958, Kelly’s first off year, the Wings dropped 18 points and 2 spots in the standings. Granted, Lindsay was gone in 1958, but the Wings only lost 22 goals for versus 50 goals against. Unless you want to make the case that Lindsay was somehow more important to the defense than Kelly, it was the loss of Kelly as an elite defenseman (and, of course, the emergence of the Canadiens), that ended the Wings’ dynasty.

Closer to Harvey than most think. Doug Harvey has a 7-1 lead in Norris trophies, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Kelly’s reputation is hurt because the Norris trophy came into existence halfway through his prime. He was a unanimous first-team all-star in the three years immediately prior to the creation of the Norris, finishing immediately ahead of Harvey twice. I view Kelly as the equivalent of a four-time Norris winner (with two second-place finishes), which closes the gap a bit on Harvey’s seven trophies.

Offense. Kelly was easily the best offensive defenseman of his generation, distancing himself from Harvey, Gadsby, and all the others. He towered above his peers, leading all blueliners in scoring five years in a row (with three more top-three finishes). Kelly’s biggest skill was his rushing ability, which was key to setting up the Detroit dynasty’s high-powered transition offense.

Kelly is also the best goal-scoring defenseman of his generation by a wide margin. During the 1950s, he scored 145 goals, nearly double what his closest competition accomplished (Gadsby 77, Harvey 57, Pronovost 55). Not even Bobby Orr could match Kelly’s streak of leading all defense in goal-scoring eight years in a row. Kelly’s ability to sneak in from the point during the PP was a great asset.

Most impressively, Kelly accomplished something that was unheard of during his era: he cracked the top ten in scoring three times (1951, 1953, 1954, peaking at 6th place in the league) and was in the top ten in assists five times, peaking at 4th place.

Underrated career as a forward. It seems like some people consider his career as a forward as an afterthought. I think most of us underrate the second half of Kelly’s career; it greatly improves his legacy and pushes him past Denis Potvin (probably equally good as a defenseman).

For starters, Kelly was a key playoff performer on the Toronto dynasty. In his first year on the Leafs, he led the team in playoff scoring (11 pts in 10 games) and finished 3rd in the league as he helped bring the team to the Cup finals. The Leafs won three in a row from 1962 to 1964, and Kelly finished 8th, 7th and 4th in playoff scoring despite taking on many of the team’s toughest defensive assignments. During the regular seasons, he contributed even more offensively (setting a career high of 70 points, finishing second in assists to Beliveau in 1961). Kelly continued to get strong MVP recognition, finishing in the top ten in Hart voting twice (1962, 1967). Imagine how much Denis Potvin’s legacy would be enhanced if he had a few years as a high-scoring MVP caliber forward.

Playoff performance. It’s worth mentioning that Kelly has won more Stanley Cups (8) than any non-Canadien ever. He wasn’t a secondary contributor, he was the #1 defenseman during his first four wins, and the #2 centre on the remaining four.

 

[seventieslord]

If you mean offensively, Coffey is the closest to Orr.