Why Did Bobby Orr Play Defense?

[Canadiens1958]

Terry Harper

I believe the other player was Terry Harper.

Somehow the concept of a Terry Harper / Bobby Orr defensive pairing or blend of talents creates on ice visions that would appeal to anyone's curiosity.

 

[Mr Pipe]

I believe the other player was Terry Harper.

Yeah, that's right.

Maybe he was the rookie player they talked about in the book. It's been a while since I read it.

 

[pappyline]

Yeah, that's right.

Maybe he was the rookie player they talked about in the book. It's been a while since I read it.

Yeh, Harper must have been the rookie Orr admired. hard to figure but he was quite young.

 

[sidewayzLEAFS]

orr was defense because of his amzing rushes and speed...even if he was near the opposition net he could still make it back in time to play defense at this own end..

 

[Canadiens1958]

Why Bobby Orr Played Defense - Answer

Bobby Orr played youth hockey from the mid fifties onward, an era when you hockey started moving away from the neighbourhood / parish teams towards the minor hockey organization format.The super elite or select teams would come later when tournaments started becoming part of the youth hockey scene in the 1960's

The usual team format was one goalie / two defense pairings and / three forward lines. Coaches were volunteers who had to please everyone, the parents, the organizations, the players etc. yet they had to try to win at the same time.

If a coach had a super talented youngster who was willing and able to play defense his job became much easier. Playing defense the superstar would get to play 1/2 the game whereas as a forward would play 1/3 of the game and no one would complain. The standard line and defensive pairings rotations would make sure that after two complete rotations every forward had played equal time with the superstar, while rotating the defensive pairings every three games would produce the same result for the defensemen.

An added bonus was that the opposition could not match their lines against a defenseman unless they played their best youngster out of position or double shifted their best player a move which would not please the other teams parent, players, etc.

The superstar quality of Bobby Orr and his scoring success as a defenseman started producing imitators. Instead of playing their best player at center youth hockey coaches starting playing their best player on defense, at times moving kids back from center to play defense.

This produced a great increase in offensive rushing defensemen in the NHL in the 1970's and early 1980's.

 

[pappyline]

Was a little different in the small town I grew up in. Only 2 lines, minimal parental involvement. No controls on ice time. Some coaches were fair, most weren't. I expect it was similiar in Parry Sound. Orr would have got lots of ice time because he was good not because he was a Dman

 

[Brent Burns]

It's not that Bobby Orr played defense, it's that offense played Bobby Orr

 

[Ward Cornell]

It's mentioned in Searching For Bobby Orr that Bucko McDonald thought Orr would be best as a defenceman, though Orr's father thought he should be a forward.

"Looking at Bobby Orr, Bucko McDonald should've drawn a logical simple conclusion. A kid built like that, with those skills, had to be a forward..... He could carry the puck, shoot, pass, score. Slot him in as a winger or centre and he'd dominate the game up front...But when he saw Bobby Orr, scrawny, skilled, a natural skater, stickhandler, scorer, he still saw a defenceman, but not a defenceman the likes of which the game had ever known."

- Searching For Bobby Orr pgs.32-33​

Absolutely wonderful book!

To add to the thoughts above, Bobby Orr was not only great physically but perhaps saw the ice and the play developing as good as if not better than Wayne Gretzky. By playing him on defence the play was developing in front of Orr where he hit his forwards with pinpoint passes or carry the puck himself when needed.

Would Orr be just as great as a forward? Hard to say since he was the greatest ever!

btw.....why wasn't Gretzky a defenceman?

 

[Canadiens1958]

Wayne Gretzky

Absolutely wonderful book!

To add to the thoughts above, Bobby Orr was not only great physically but perhaps saw the ice and the play developing as good as if not better than Wayne Gretzky. By playing him on defence the play was developing in front of Orr where he hit his forwards with pinpoint passes or carry the puck himself when needed.

Would Orr be just as great as a forward? Hard to say since he was the greatest ever!

btw.....why wasn't Gretzky a defenceman?

As a youngster Wayne Gretzky was somewhat smallish, playing against much older kids so defense would not have been an option.

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

It's not that Bobby Orr played defense, it's that offense played Bobby Orr

Ya, this is the grown up forum Take the giggles to the main board where they would be more appreciated please.