10/19/1966 Red Wings at Bruins Bobby Orr's first NHL shift! Historic! Skirmishes w/ Howe explained!
This is a short video that includes the first shift of Hall of Fame Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr in the National Hockey League, during an Oct. 19, 1966 game against the Detroit Red Wings at Boston Garden.
It was the season-opener for both clubs, and the highly touted rookie had an assist as the Bruins beat legendary veteran Gordie Howe and the Red Wings, 6-2.
About 45 seconds into the video, Orr gives Howe a cross check to the shoulder and Howe appears to me to take a number. Whether that started the puck rolling, so to speak, as much as Orr admired Howe, the two got “into it a bit,” he said.
Later in the game Howe flattened Orr with a blindside hit as young No. 4 was admiring a pass he’d made. Teammates converged over the fallen rookie and several came to Orr’s defense. But he looked up and said, “ It’s OK, guys, I deserved that.”
Howe has said he was impressed by Orr's remark - but that didn't keep him from testing Orr again a little more than a month later. In a Nov. 24, 1966 game, Howe butt-ended Orr in the corner, stunning the Garden crowd into silence until the rookie got up and was able to keep playing. A few rushes later Orr checked Howe into the boards in the Bruins end to even things up a bit.
And after the game, Bruins coach Harry Sinden marveled at how history had repeated itself. "[Howe] did the same thing 20 years ago," Sinden said. "Orr didn't walk away from Howe tonight, and neither did Howe 20 years ago to fellows who did it to him."
Copyright NHL or any other party. I don't claim the rights to, and don't profit from, this video. I just posted it for historical and educational purposes, and for those who will enjoy it as much as I did.
The box score:
www.hockey-reference.com/boxs...
Great footage! Two of the "Hockey Mt. Rushmore" Legends!
Wow. Love the look and feel of this old-time hockey. As a new fan of the sport, I definitely need to watch more old stuff! Thanks!
Bobby was so smooth and fluid.
So true, Bluto!
That smoothness really didn't show off his speed and acceleration. He was so smooth that it didn't look like he was going nearly as fast as he was.
Acceleration. Takes the guy 2 secs to go from his own goal line (w/puck) to the opponents blueline. Incredible.
And with those old skates. A boot and a blade. Imagine him with today’s skates and sticks…
Bobby received his first NHL point in this game(an assist on Wayne Connelly's 2nd period goal). On Oct. 28, 1978 he scored his last goal (and point) playing at Olympia Stadium (7-2 win for Detroit vs. Chicago). First NHL game I ever attended. Thanks for the upload, great video!
YW, oldredbarnman!
Ah, Olympia and those crappy Peschke hot dogs!
Wow!! And none other than Mr. Hockey himself as well!!
Let me echo what others said here. What a fantastic find, Pete.
TY, Lancer! I try.
If I am correct that's Eddie Johnston in nets for Boston and Roger Crozier for Detroit. Johnston lost his number job to Gerry Cheevers but he was still a good goalie.He had a very unique style.
When Bobby wore #2 in Oshawa my brother and I would go down to see him play as often as our father would let us. We were still young. When the PA announcer made the statement, "please join us in congratulating Bobby Orr on his public school graduation we all thought it a joke. It was serious. A kid surrounded by 18, 19 and 20 year olds. The bench looked down and all the players could do was shake their heads. Swear to God one of the funniest things I have witnessed in my 73 years.
Tremendous story! And fair and objective!
great story, thanks for sharing, wunderkind at any age
I use to watch Rick Middleton in Oshawa!
Wow!! Great vid!! Thanks for sharing the G.O.A.T.’s first shift !!!! Rick
Glad you liked, Rick!
He changed the game, greatest defenseman of all time!
That's really cool! Thanks for posting it.
You’re welcome, SWog!
Bobby looked so smooth with zero knee issues at this point in his career. It wasn't long before he played on only one healthy leg for the rest of his career. Just imagine a healthy 2 legged Bobby Orr.
My thoughts exactly, Willie! It looks so effortless!
Notice when he passed the puck just as he crossed the blueline, then headed directly for the opposition net. Defensemen weren't supposed to do that back then. He changed the defense position forever.
@@samstone22744 Even the Bruins didn't look ready for it! 😝
@@samstone22744 A 4th offensive player. never existed until his skill level and smarts allowed it. The thing about Orr though, he was as dedicated to defending as to offense. He blocked shots fearlessly and with his speed was able to get back on defense. I can only imagine what his lung capacity was like. Supposedly that Rasmus Dahlin of the Sabres has that type of incredible recovery rate. Such specimens
I believe he had issues in juniors
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing that!!!
No prob Whiz! Glad you enjoyed!
The best of all time!!
Ah one of my favorite 70's goalies in goal for Boston....Eddie Johnston !
Gordie feeds him an elbow to welcome him to the game
What a find! This is my favorite KZhead account.
Nice of you to say, Kenny!
When Howe was asked what Bobby's best move was, he said 'Putting on his @#$% skates.' Classic Howe.
Ha! I hadn't heard that one!
Gawd, I was 10 days old when this film was shot.
I had 24 days under my belt by that time, ya little punk.😂
First shift at 18 and you're facing Gordie! "Is he going to score or crush my face with an elbow?" God Orr could skate!
He had a gear that nobody else had. These videos are wonderful.
Glad you're enjoying!
His power strides -even on his very first shift- are stronger than anyone on the ice.
I was 11 years old back then but loved my Bobby Orr table hockey game that came with metal men but was on legs so that we stand and play it. I recall those old Bruins with Phil Esposito, Johhny Bucyk, Wayne Cashman, ...
The table hockey game I had was Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs. Woulda loved having the Bruins, but what a blast we had with that game!
@@petegoodwinboston4825The other kids in neighborhood had some other brands of those old games with the metal men so we were able to eventually collect also Toronto, Montreal, St.Louis, Buffalo and the old Minnesota North Stars of the old metal players.
Johnny McKenzie number 19, I lived in Boston and hockey blew up when Bobby Orr came to town I played in Peewee hockey I think it cost $35 for the winter. I remember getting a signed copy of Orr on Ice Christmas one year who is my favorite Christmas present ever
My father and his friends used to get together and play hockey with that kind of game with the metal men and I used to play with my dad. Miss you Dad♥️
@@jamesflannery6401 I have Orr on Ice too!
A rare occasion when the Red Wings had names on the back. It was a very irregular thing until the NHL mandated it in the mid-70s.
It was also weird at that time for the home team to be wearing white. That became the norm from 1970-2003.
I didn't realize that . I thought the 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers were the first NHL team to incorporate putting players names on the back of the jerseys.
I believe the Bruins wore white jerseys for all 70 games in 1966-67 home and away
@@sirreal1290 the first teams to put names on the uniforms was in 1970-71 Seals, Kings, Penguins, Rangers only at home the Flyers first put names on the uniforms in 1972-73 it became mandatory for all teams in 1977-78
@@michaelleroy9281 That can't be true because we see the Wings with names on their uniforms in 1966! Maybe it was an experimental thing for them and not regular.
Such a great fluid skater, ALL TALENT and humble guy. The skates during that era were so inferior to what players have today, just like everything else. I’d love to see what some of those guys would do with the stick technology out there today. Nowadays EVERYONE can get so much speed and accuracy on their shots…
Awesome video. Still can't believe that goalies wore pillows on their legs, a blocker and a glove, but no mask. Evidently goalies didn't do TV commercials or magazine covers in the 60's.
I am stunned to see a goalie without any head gear. Crazy.
Best of all time
I was shocked that Goalies still were maskless in 1966. That is insane.
The Red Wings probably had names on their uniforms for just that one game
Incredible find! So odd to see him look tentative at first-but he seemed like Bobby Orr toward the end-
His defense didn't really mature for a year or so.
I had him tentative for about 30 seconds, and then ... whoosh!
Like poetry in motion.
00:41 min. mark. ***Mr. Elbows goes to work on the new kid! Classic, subtle Howe move!***
😆
Bobby was one of those once in a generation kind of talents.
he's on the ice with one of the greatest athletes in any sport....a guy who scored 15 goals, had 26 assists without missing a game in his final season at the age of 52.
Every time I watch these old videos I so wish the Bruins would go back to these home and away jerseys and stop screwing around. While I’m not a Bruins fan, these were far and away the best.
Amen!
Who took this film - Orr's dad? It was unusual for individual players to be filmed like that.
lucky Bobby was my first Hockey hero..classy all the way..
Good job Pete!
Thanks!
Bobby Orr is the GOAT
Off topic: Red Wings with names on jerseys? First I've seen of that in that era.
That *was* quite a surprise!
This is a wonderful find, and seeing Orr's first shift is amazing, however, there is one thing I always see from hockey pre-expansion in the 1960s, the quality of hockey, these were the bottom feeders that year, and they hockey is good, fast, and exciting. It was how hockey should be, hits to the head accidental not deliberate, hockey skilled, and yet physical.
True, that!
A good return pass on that rush and he scores on his first shift :)
@@kennywest831 LOL. I thought the same thing! They probably had to get used to the fact that a defenseman could get to the net-front like that!
Bounced off Gordie like a gnat
😆
Orr said that in that first game, Howe caught him with the elbow.
Just like Barney Fife, Gordie wanted to "Nip it. Nip it in the bud!"
No helmets, no masks on goalies. When men were men.
He's out there with Mr. Slash Howe.
Bobby probably got the Gordie Howe newcomer hat trick … a slash, an elbow, and a hook!
Gordie's saying, "Look, Sonny, I was in this league before you were born." And he was!
🤣
Orr skated from Howe like he was a pylon Howe was just a big guy and dirty as hell not very skilled at anything in particular.
@@joewasrippedoff8152 That's kind of harsh on Howe since he was considered by those who played against him the best player of his times. It takes some skill to lead the league in scoring 6 times, win 6 MVP's and win 4 Stanley Cups. In Orr's rookie season, at the age of 38, he was still 4th in the league in scoring and a 2nd Team All-Star.
@@RRaquello Howe was mean dirty nasty and very racist. Many racist incidents have come to light about Mr. Howe that would have got him kicked out of the league nowadays.
@@joewasrippedoff8152 The racist thing means nothing. It's just a word people throw around nowadays at anyone they don't like. I don't give a shit. All I care is "was he a good player?" Everything else is bullshit.
Holy F**K!!! see how he just glides so effortlessly,,,,,,
OMG!
Does anybody know the final score?
Bruins, 6-2.
@@petegoodwinboston4825 Thank You!
at the ;40 mark howe gives bobby a elbow kid welcome to the NHL
Goaltenders without masks. Wow!
0:05 that guy sure went down easy
No helmets, thank you so much
Man, Orr could just explode with easy speed.
Great way to put it!
The defenseman who changed the game, just like Tony Esposito changed the goaltending position.
Actually it was two other goalies ,Jacques Plante,who was one the first to play the puck behind the net and cut down angles,and Glen Hall,who first used the butterfly style,which Esposito copied to great success. Unfortunately, today all the goalies just flop around on their knees like 5 year olds, and let in goals that should be stopped if they stood up more and cut angles. Plante would be horrified to see how they play today.
@@alex35agm Definitely, but I think Esposito was the first truly pro-active goalie for positioning and aggressiveness. You may be right about today's goalies but I have to admit there were some sublime moments of goaltending by Corey Crawford during the Blackhawk defeat of Boston in the Stanley Cup.
I thought Bobby Orr broke in wearing 27?
He wore it that preseason. I guess they were satisfied enough with him that they gave him a lower number. 🤪
Interesting. . .in '66-'67 the home teams wore their colours as they do now both in the NHL & PWHL, and the road teams wore white. Wonder why the switch for this game 🤔 hmm.
The Bruins definitely wore white in their 10/19/66 home game vs. Detroit, and Bobby Orr definitely wore #4 in that game. But the scoreboard at the 0:48-mark of this video indicates the score is 4-3, but the Bruins won the 10/19/66 game 6-2. Hmm...
Amazing how slow they were. Like watching a beer league game now.
Except you're wrong.
He would have been the McDavid of the 60’s with his speed combined with Nik Lidstrom D and tough like Wendel Clark
Great comps!
McDavid is not in the same conversation as Orr.
Orr seemed very fast cause the other players didn’t skate as well. Nowadays the parity of skating is very close. Bobby revolutionized the d man and was amazing but it was who he played against that also made him that much better.
Bruins goalie looks like Ed Johnston...
Correct!
First shift and he's storming the opposition net, something defencemen weren't supposed to do. Straight out of the gate he did not look like a typical defenceman.
not a good shift for bobby he let the pass go
Then, in 2020, Orr endorsed Trump.