Quote:
Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie
So it's just really starting to sink in what the Bruins accomplished this year with a great playoff run and winning the cup.
I thought I would never see them win anything again in my life as long as Jacobs owned the team. I had Gord Kluzak on a charter last year and he told me the same !
So with the Bruins winning it all anyone think less of Bobby's career and that he is the greatest ?
Me, he's still the greatest player ever !
He can also add greatest team motivator with waving the Horton flag !
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Here's the way I look at it, and the bottom line is, nothing detracts from the greatness of Orr.
Of the 3 Cups that the B's have won in my lifetime, this one was far and away the most satisfying. Just because this was the Little Engine That Could--a team that overachieved, and beat more talented teams to win it.
Orr's Bruins were one of the great underachievers in sports history. The only other team I can think of that compares is the Oakland A's of the late 1980s, who won one WS with what was far and away the best team in baseball for 3 years running. The Bruins were arguably the best team in the NHL for 5 straight years, 1968-1972. It's really a close call whether they were better than the 68 and 69 Habs teams that beat them in the Eastern finals, but in 71 they were the greatest offensive machine assembled in that era of the NHL. You can chalk it up to the Octopus if you want, but great teams don't let a goaltender beat them. Those Big, Bad Bruins were a totally undisciplined mob off the ice, and often on the ice. They coasted into the playoffs that year, and when the playoffs started, they thought that all they had to do to win the Cup was show up. Two Cups in 3 years sounds fine on paper, but they should have been one of the sport's greatest dynasties for 5 years running. But------none of this was Orr's fault. He played at a very high level in all of those series. And his off-the-ice habits weren't like guys like Espo, Sanderson and McKenzie, who never saw a bar they could pass without stopping in for a few.
It's also a different era. More teams, more dilution of talent, and a salary cap. The playing field is more level, and 4th seeds and lower do have a realistic chance at the Cup.
Nope---he's still the greatest.