And we should include Howe in that for many as well.
Any all-time poll that I have ever seen has all 3 of them taking each home a not unsubstantial number of first place votes.
No doubt he would have been granted an exemption back then but the quality of the league wasn't that great either.
It's pretty hard to put into any context.
His age 15 season in 64 is what is really remarkable as the OHA had shrunk to 8 teams and Orr's 72 points only put him 7 behind the 10th place finisher. And that top 10 is a pretty good list too.
Youngest ever is John Tavares, playing Provincial Jr.A at 13, Major Jr.A like Orr &
others with a "special exemption" at 14, also playing in Oshawa for the Generals.
And we should include Howe in that for many as well.
Any all-time poll that I have ever seen has all 3 of them taking each home a not unsubstantial number of first place votes.
Aha okey, i thought we were talking about Howe all long. In that case:
First came Howe, the God of Power
Then came Orr, the God of Speed
Third came Gretzky, the God of Vision
Lastly came Lemieux, the God of Humanitys Strength and Weakness.
They together form the wholy Quadrouple of Hockey. All must be present in any true hockeyfans prayers.
Last edited by Darth Yoda: 12-14-2012 at 09:08 AM.
Youngest ever is John Tavares, playing Provincial Jr.A at 13, Major Jr.A like Orr &
others with a "special exemption" at 14, also playing in Oshawa for the Generals.
Tavares was 15 when playing major junior, a year older than Orr (and Goodall).
Denis Potvin is another who played a few games at 14.
He apparently played in the OHA in the 1962-63 season...which if I do my math correctly,would be today's equivalent of his Major Bantam year....
And then the next year he put up 1.29 ppg as an underage dman.
...
Buzz. Orr played forward in Junior until his last year when he split time between forward and defense. He only became a full time defenseman in the NHL. The Bruins decided that the best way to get him away from shadows was to have him on the back line.
Buzz. Orr played forward in Junior until his last year when he split time between forward and defense. He only became a full time defenseman in the NHL. The Bruins decided that the best way to get him away from shadows was to have him on the back line.
I am about the same age as Orr and did watch him as a junior and my memory is that he played defense in junior.
Growing-up in Ontario, Bobby Orr was the definition of "Prodigy". The only one who came close was Gretzky, but he didn't do what Orr did in Junior as he did not play four years in Junior A Hockey.
The Oshawa Generals were created by the Boston Bruins so that Bobby Orr could play as close to Parry Sound as possible - not that Oshawa is close to Parry Sound, but it is a heck of a lot closer than the other Bruin Junior A affiliate of the time, the Niagara Falls Flyers ...
