Who is your favroite Bruin on the 2011 team?

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Old Time Bruins

Bobby Orr
One moment defines this outstanding defenseman.  This moment was on May 10, 1970.  In the first overtime of  game 4 of the the 1970 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bobby Orr scored the series winning goal.  Upon scoring he did a superman esque across the ice before celebrating with his teammates.  This moment not only is the greatest moment in Boston Bruins History, but it was also voted the greatest moment in NHL history, according to Larry Schwartz of ESPN.  Bobby Orr also won the James Norris Trophy, awarded the the leagues best defenseman, a record 8 consecutive seasons (from the 1967-68 season to 1974-75 season).  Even though Orr played defense he also found time to put the puck in the net.  He is the only defenseman ever to win the Art Ross trophy, for leading the league in points (goals and assists), and he has done this twice.


Raymond Bourque
Raymond Bourque was an ageless rugged defenseman, whom was set to lead the defensive core after Bobby Orr retired.  Bourque was an outstanding defenseman and was one of only two players to make 1st
team all-star in his first and last career seasons.  On top of this he was the winner of 5 Norris trophies and the Calder trophy.  Possibly one of the best moments in the Garden during the Ray Bourque era for the bruins would be Phil Esposito's number being retired.  On December 3, 1987, Esposito's number 7 was set to be retired to the garden rafters.  The only issue was at the time Bourque also sported the number 7 on the back of his Bruins sweater.  So, during the pregame ceremony Bourque approached Esposito, in front of the whole garden crowd, and took off his number 7 jersey to reveal his new number 77 jersey.  Esposito was deeply and emotionally moved by this act by Bourque. Throughout his whole hockey career Bourque showed outstanding class.  (Picture to the left is Joe Sakic handing the Stanley Cup after Bourque finally won his first cup.  He announced his retirement just a couple weeks after winning the cup).

Cam Neely
One of the leagues best power forwards ever to play the game.  When Neely wasn't scoring he was busy burying the puck in the back of the net.  He is part of an elite echelon of the NHL, scoring 50 goals in 44 games, only Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky have score 50 goals faster than Neely.  Also during his illustrius career with the Bruins he spent 921 minutes in the penalty box, in only 525 games.  This means that Neely averaged almost a penalty a game for the Bruins (1.7 penalty minutes per game).  Now, Cam is the President of the Bruins organization.

Terrence O' Reilly
Said best in the words of Harry Sinden, "[O' Reilly], a true Bruin."  O' Reilly was never the fastest skater, nor did he have the hardest shot, but no one played harder than O' Reilly, and that's why the city of Boston loved O' Reilly.  Terrence was a less talented version of Cam Neely, but O' Reilly played every shift like it was his last. 

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