Bobby Orr shoots the Boston Bruins to the title on May 10, 1970. After his goal he flies through the air cheering. It creates a moment for eternity.
It is May 10th, 1970.
The Boston Bruins meet the St Louis Blues in the fourth game of the Stanley Cup final. Boston lead the series 3-0, so all that’s missing is a win for their first title since 1941, which they want to perfect in front of their home crowd. After the regular playing time the score is 3:3 – it goes into overtime.
Only 40 seconds of overtime are played when a scene is shot that makes for one of the best sports photos ever.
Orr shoots Bruins for the title
Boston’s Bobby Orr runs diagonally to the goal area and receives the puck from Derek Sanderson. Blues goalkeeper Glenn Hall has to follow the movement, there is a gap between his pads. Opponent Noel Picard Orr has just been tripped up, but he still gets the disc on goal.
As the then 22-year-old looks around, he sees the puck fly into the net. He jumps off in joy and tears both arms into the air as he flies through the air, cheering.
Even 50 years later, people still talk about the legendary flying puck.
“I had a bit of luck in the action,” the goalscorer recalls years later. “I tried everything to get the target on the goal somehow, which I did. When I looked around, I could already see how the puck actually found its way into the goal. So I jumped off, cheering.”
With his goal, Orr takes his team to the title and ends 29 years of waiting. It’s a historic victory for Boston.
Bruins: From laughingstock to champion
But it’s not just the one gate that will secure Orr a place in the history books. He began his NHL career in 1966 at the age of 18. Right at the end of his first season, he is named the best rookie in the league.
Two years later, he achieves the almost impossible. As a defender, Orr becomes the NHL’s top scorer with 120 points and also secures the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player.
He could score like a striker, had an eye for his team-mates like a playmaker and was as compact in defence as a defensive specialist. A total of eight times in a row, he is named the league’s best defender. It is also thanks to him that the Bruins – from 1966 to 1970 – went from the laughing stock of the NHL to champions in just four years.
In 1971, Orr signed the first million-dollar contract with the Bruins for a hockey player. In 1976, Orr joins the Chicago Blackhawks.
Orr statue in front of TD Garden in Boston
Due to numerous knee injuries, the NHL legend had to end his career two years later. But when the name Bobby Orr is mentioned, ice hockey fans still have a picture in their minds: the flying Superman over the ice.