Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
22h ago
More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
Number 4, Bobby Orr, just turned 70 years old.
He still looks young enough to play in the NHL, but his knees certainly wouldn’t allow it. Those scarred, oft-repaired knees forced him to retire in 1978 after playing just 26 games for the Chicago Blackhawks. Because he believed he was being paid to play hockey and didn’t earn his salary, Orr never cashed a paycheque from the Blackhawks, who he had joined as a free agent after 10 seasons with the Boston Bruins.
Orr had 27 points in those 26 games with Chicago. In 631 regular-season games with Boston, he had 888 points. And Orr was a defenceman! The best defenceman to ever play hockey, maybe the best player of all time.
His most famous goal, the 1970 Stanley Cup winner, was immortalized in a photograph as he was sent airborne by St. Louis Blues defenceman Noel Picard. That play wasn’t popular in our house because my father worked for the Blues. Now that Orr is 70, we can probably forgive him.