Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim65
OK fair enough. I am old enough to see Orr towards the end of his career, even on bad knees, he was the greatest defenseman to play the game.
Only defenseman to lead the league in scoring and he did it twice. 8 Norris Trophys in a 12 year career. Avg 1.3 points per game for his career.
Lidstrom's best +/- in a season was +43, Orr's best was +124
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Soooo hard to compare eras. There's absolutely zero doubt in mind that Orr, were he playing today, would not lead the league in scoring. I also have no doubt he'd get nowhere near a +124 (Konstantinov is the only guy in the last 30 years to even reach +60). That's not to try and diminish Orr, who obviously is a legend. Just that things are different now. I won't make a claim that Lidstrom is the best of all-time. But Lidstrom's 4 Cups, 6 Norris Trophies (and 3 runners-up), and 20 years as an elite player certainly put him in the top 2 or 3.