Orr's Landmark Season & Esposito Trade
Welcome to the THW Hockey History Substack newsletter, with all the best from our extensive archives.
In today’s edition, we have a couple of “Today in Hockey History” posts, a look back at Bobby Orr’s landmark season, the Phil Esposito trade to the Boston Bruins, and more.
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Today in Hockey History: Nov. 8
Nov. 8 has been a very eventful date in NHL history. Arguably the greatest defenseman ever retired, while a legend scored his first goal and became the league’s all-time leader a decade apart. In addition, a new franchise was awarded, a whole slew of hat tricks was scored, and plenty of franchise and personal milestones were reached.
Bobby Orr’s Landmark Season
When Bobby Orr was at his peak, he was the best hockey player in the world. No other human was close. It was unbelievable how much better he was than anyone else in the pack behind. The NHL wasn’t good enough for Orr. Too bad there was no higher league.
Around the beginning of this century, Bobby Orr’s 1969-70 season was voted the most important and significant full-season contribution to NHL history by a panel of highly respected experts and hockey historians. Orr’s ’69-70 was ranked number 1, ahead of any of Wayne Gretzky’s magnificent seasons, ahead of everybody else. The primary reason: Orr singlehandedly changed the way the game was played.
The following is a detailed account of how Bobby Orr’s incredible 1969-70 season unfolded.
Esposito: The Trade That Shaped the Boston Bruins
In today’s look at important off-season trades over the years, we set our sights back to 1967. While this particular deal did not take place at the NHL Annual Meetings held in the first week in June, it is inextricably linked to the events that were scheduled for that gathering.
Today in Hockey History: Nov. 7
One of the biggest trades in NHL history went down on this date as two heated rivals swapped star players. Also, Nov. 7 has seen some of the best players to skate in Detroit have big moments, and multiple defensemen have big nights on the scoresheet. The THW time machine is fired up and ready to take us back through the years to relive all the great memories.
San Jose Sharks: A Brief History
The beginnings of the San Jose Sharks history can be traced back almost fifty years ago to the 1967 NHL expansion. At the time, the NHL wanted to expand the league to new markets and also squash competition from other leagues such as the WHL. The San Francisco Seals, a minor league team from the WHL, was purchased by Barry Van Gerbig in 1967. After purchasing the team, Van Gerbig decided to move the Seals from the Cow Palace in San Francisco to the Oracle Arena in Oakland. He then renamed the team the California Seals.