THN Archive: In 2013, Bruins Icon Bobby Orr Sounded Off on McDavid, Journey for Elite Young Players

In this cover story from THN's Jan. 14, 2013, edition, Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Orr spoke out about his playing days and elite young players he represented as a player agent.

There have been very few NHLers whose careers even come close to Boston Bruins iconic defenseman Bobby Orr. And in this cover story from THN’s Jan. 14, 2013 edition – Vol. 66, Issue 14 – THN writer Ryan Kennedy spoke to Orr about his career and his life post-hockey.

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Orr was 64 years old at the time the story was published, and he was still working as a top player agent and unofficial ambassador for the sport. His legacy as one of the top five players of all time – if not one of the top four, alongside Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux – was burnished by time, and he was comfortable discussing the impact he had on the game and the absence of regret at any level.

“I can’t stand here and say I would have done anything differently,” Orr told Kennedy. “In a game like hockey there’s a lot of contact and I played a style where I got hit a lot. I handled the puck a lot and I got hit a lot. That’s the game. It was the way I wanted to play, it was the way I enjoyed playing and I’d probably do it all over the same way.”

Orr made sure he passed along the wisdom he’d accumulated during his playing days to new generations of elite players, including Florida Panthers blueliner Aaron Ekblad and a then-15-year-old named Connor McDavid. But rather than push the two youngsters into playing in the major junior system at their infancy as athletes, Orr stressed the importance of patience and the deep support that can only come from family.

“Everybody’s in a hurry and we have to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Orr said. “For both (Ekblad and McDavid) to be players, I didn’t really believe they had to go (to junior hockey) early. They’re going to be players. They love being on the ice, they love having a stick in their hand and they have great parents.”

The unfortunate part of Orr’s playing career was that it was truncated by injury. But Orr understood that health problems were part and parcel of playing a high-contact sport, and he was thankful medical procedures had advanced to the point they prolonged careers.

“With today’s athletes, you’re going to get poked,” Orr said. “Get on it right away. There’s a lot more you can do today. I thought I’d play forever. When a guy hit me I’d think, ‘Oh, it’s sore, but I’m going to be all right.’ I probably didn’t do the things I should have done. The Europeans have forever been so good at preventive medicine. We wait until we hurt and then try to do something about it. Let’s try to prevent it. There’s a lot we can do to stay in the right condition for sports.”

All things considered, Orr was content with his hockey journey. It didn’t last as long as it would’ve ideally, but having a Hockey Hall of Fame career means many things went right for you. And that was good enough for Orr.

“It’s been a great trip,” Orr said. “Parts of it I wish I had been in longer, but the time I had right from my minor hockey days, which are some of my fondest memories, to Oshawa and the Bruins, I was one of the fortunate ones. If parents out there understand that .000017 percent of players in hockey play one game in the NHL, always keep that in mind. Let’s not forget why our kids are playing: try to be hockey players, teach fundamentals, but teach them some values for whatever they do in the future.”

Vol. 66, No. 14, Jan. 14, 2013

By Ryan Kennedy

Bobby Orr is in a good place. His legacy within the confines of hockey arenas is cemented; he is the best defenseman ever to play the game and it’s difficult to conceive of anyone besting him.

In his second career, success is present and forthcoming. As president of the Orr Hockey Group player agency, the man who can simply be referred to as “No. 4” steers the futures of the past two players to receive exceptional status in the Ontario League, Barrie Colts defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Erie Otters center Connor McDavid. Ekblad is a frontrunner in the 2014 draft while McDavid is favored to go No. 1 in 2015. In fact, the super-talented 15-year-old forward was expected to sign an unprecedented endorsement deal with Reebok, the same company that inked Sidney Crosby at age 17.

For Orr, it’s a reminder of the position he was in 50 years ago as a 14-year-old joining up with the Oshawa Generals, though it’s hardly a flashback – there were no endorsements, no panting media and major junior hockey didn’t even exist then. “It was Metro Jr. A then,” Orr says. “It was my dream to play in the NHL and that was the way you had to go. It was that next step. So to be given that opportunity was a thrill.”

Thanks to a father who kept things in perspective and didn’t let the hype envelop his talented prodigy, Orr spent those early days in the spotlight on an even keel, something he sees in Ekblad and McDavid. But it is nice for the kids that Orr went through something few of their peers can relate to. “We talk about it,” Orr says. “I’m not a big supporter of going early (to the OHL). Everybody’s in a hurry and we have to remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. For both those boys to be players, I didn’t really believe they had to go early. They’re going to be players. They love being on the ice, they love having a stick in their hand and they have great parents.”

Orr’s legacy is an intriguing one. Eight Norris Trophies for a player forced to retire at 30 due to knee injuries. That’s the age when his closest peer in the pantheon – recently retired Red Wings blueliner Nicklas Lidstrom – started winning the honor as defenseman of the year. How many could Orr have won?

As he detailed in an interview with The Hockey News’ Frank Orr (no relation) in 1986, the brilliant Bruin tried to “replace hockey with hockey” once it became apparent his playing days were over. Orr took a job as an assistant with Chicago, the final and only other NHL team he played for, but that lasted just one season. Scouting was similarly unsatisfying. Perhaps this is why the 1980s view of Orr was that of a bitter soul dwelling on the cruel hand dealt to him – an article in the now-defunct men’s magazine Quest by the late Earl McRae was particularly notorious and controversial – but on more than one occasion back then, Orr made it clear to The Hockey News he was doing just fine. He focused on business, moving into condo development, financial printing and marketing/promotional work with Standard Brands, the food conglomerate that owned Nabisco.

Of course, there were disappointments. Orr had to pull out of the legendary Summit Series due to injury, practicing but never playing with Team Canada in its iconic showdown with the Soviets. Modern medicine just wasn’t that modern in 1972. Would Orr have gotten into those games based on today’s technology? “There’s no question,” he says. “With today’s scopes and the ways they do the surgery, the products out there, for any athlete back a few years, it would be better for them today. When I was playing, you’d ice it, you’d heat – there was a hot gel – and that was it.”

Health and fitness is on Orr’s mind these days. Still a man who can move products with his name and influence, the charismatic, young-looking 64-year-old has been touting the LivRelief pain relief cream he and his wife use. But on top of salves, Orr has advice for those in the world of sports who would still be as cavalier as he was, despite the leaps and bounds made about the nature of treating injuries these days. “With today’s athletes, you’re going to get poked,” he says. “Get on it right away. There’s a lot more you can do today. I thought I’d play forever. When a guy hit me I’d think, ‘Oh, it’s sore, but I’m going to be all right.’ I probably didn’t do the things I should have done.

“The Europeans have forever been so good at preventive medicine. We wait until we hurt and then try to do something about it. Let’s try to prevent it. There’s a lot we can do to stay in the right condition for sports.”

Orr still tries to stay in shape and he’s enthusiastic and energetic when one-on-one or in a crowd. He walks, cycles and stretches regularly, his days lifting weights far behind him. Diet has become a focus and he relies on his better half to be a partner in that regard. “It’s a lot harder now since I don’t work out like I used to,” he says. “But my wife Peggy is a very good cook and we eat pretty well. We do cheat a bit, but we eat well and I have to. It’s much easier putting on the weight now.”

Orr has been in the player representative business since the mid-1990s and his mark off the ice is becoming substantial. His name still adorns one of the teams at the Canadian Hockey League’s annual Top Prospects Game, with longtime buddy and former coach Don Cherry taking the other honor. Orr, however, no longer acts as bench boss (hypothetically, he could be coaching his own clients otherwise). This year, Mike McPhee will do the honors of attempting to best ‘Grapes’ and his roster of NHL draft eligible stars.

It’s clear Orr’s passion lies within the grassroots. It’s been like that for a long time. Not surprising for a kid who began to own the game by playing pond hockey back in Parry Sound, Ont., nor for someone who has seen the best and worst the sport had to offer, from the Stanley Cup to betrayer and felon Alan Eagleson. “It’s been a great trip,” Orr says. “Parts of it I wish I had been in longer, but the time I had right from my minor hockey days, which are some of my fondest memories, to Oshawa and the Bruins, I was one of the fortunate ones. If parents out there understand that .000017 percent of players in hockey play one game in the NHL, always keep that in mind. Let’s not forget why our kids are playing: try to be hockey players, teach fundamentals, but teach them some values for whatever they do in the future.”

At 64, Orr isn’t a man in decline or hung up on what might have been. “I can’t stand here and say I would have done anything differently,” he says. “In a game like hockey there’s a lot of contact and I played a style where I got hit a lot. I handled the puck a lot and I got hit a lot. That’s the game. It was the way I wanted to play, it was the way I enjoyed playing and I’d probably do it all over the same way.”

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