WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.580 The deep dive. Bobby Orr, the flying goal and 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:05.960 the birth of the modern sports agent. Join us 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.460 for a fascinating deep dive into the life and 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:12.279 legacy of NHL legend Bobby Orr. We explore how 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:14.919 Orr completely revolutionized the defense position 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:17.879 for the Boston Bruins, setting untouchable records 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:21.559 and immortalizing himself with 1970s iconic flying 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:24.289 goal. But this is far more than just a hockey 00:00:24.289 --> 00:00:27.030 history lesson. We uncover the gripping off -ace 00:00:27.030 --> 00:00:29.730 drama from Orr signing the NHL's first million 00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:32.429 -dollar contract to the shocking betrayal by 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:35.469 his agent, Alan Eagleson, a deception that inadvertently 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:38.090 sparked the modern sports agent era. Whether 00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:40.109 you're a die -hard hockey fan or just love an 00:00:40.109 --> 00:00:42.229 incredible story of triumph, betrayal, and resilience, 00:00:42.549 --> 00:00:45.109 this deep dive offers surprising insights into 00:00:45.109 --> 00:00:47.390 the business, brutality, and evolution of professional 00:00:47.390 --> 00:00:50.390 sports and player contracts. Keywords, Bobby 00:00:50.390 --> 00:00:53.439 Orr. Boston Bruins, NHL history, greatest defenseman, 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:55.840 Allen Eagleson, sports agent, Stanley Cup, flying 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.219 goal. Hockey history, player contracts. Welcome 00:00:58.219 --> 00:01:00.939 to a brand new deep dive. We are absolutely thrilled 00:01:00.939 --> 00:01:02.439 you're joining us today. Yeah, really glad to 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:04.420 have you here. If you've ever found yourself 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:07.120 falling down a rabbit hole of NHL history. Oh, 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.680 there's so many of those. Right. Or if you're 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.939 just captivated by, you know, an incredibly dramatic 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.920 story of triumph, some unseen betrayal and ultimate 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.159 resilience, you are in the perfect place. Absolutely. 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:20.640 Because today we're exploring the life of Robert 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.909 Gordon Bobby Orr. The legend himself. Yeah. And 00:01:23.909 --> 00:01:27.250 our mission today is to discover how this slightly 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:30.870 frail kid from Parry Sound, Ontario, not only 00:01:30.870 --> 00:01:33.450 completely revolutionized the geometry of ice 00:01:33.450 --> 00:01:35.489 hockey. Which is a huge statement, but totally 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:38.829 true. It really is. But also how he inadvertently 00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:42.049 birthed the modern era of sports agents. Yeah. 00:01:42.090 --> 00:01:44.370 And athlete contracts as we know them. Exactly. 00:01:44.390 --> 00:01:47.230 OK, let's unpack this. Yeah. Because to understand 00:01:47.230 --> 00:01:49.530 the player who is universally considered the 00:01:49.530 --> 00:01:51.989 greatest defenseman of all time. You really have 00:01:51.989 --> 00:01:54.609 to start at the very beginning, which was surprisingly 00:01:54.609 --> 00:01:57.790 fragile for a guy who would grow up to dominate 00:01:57.790 --> 00:02:00.890 such a remarkably brutal sport. It really is 00:02:00.890 --> 00:02:02.790 a stark contrast. I mean, when Bobby Orr was 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:05.849 born in 1948, he was actually a very sick baby. 00:02:06.150 --> 00:02:08.550 Yeah, his survival was considered tenuous right 00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:11.129 from the start. But, you know, by the time he 00:02:11.129 --> 00:02:12.770 was five years old, he was already playing organized 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:15.110 hockey. In the minor squirt division. Exactly. 00:02:15.189 --> 00:02:18.009 The local minor squirts. And he's a tiny. He 00:02:18.009 --> 00:02:22.319 was frail. But he had this one. defining, just 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.159 undeniable characteristic. Let me guess. Speed. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.580 Yeah. He could simply out -skate everyone else 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:31.520 on the ice. And what blows my mind is that he 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:33.740 didn't even start out as a defenseman. No, he 00:02:33.740 --> 00:02:36.259 didn't. Up until he was 10 years old, he played 00:02:36.259 --> 00:02:38.520 on the wing as a forward. Which totally makes 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:41.159 sense given how fast he was. Right. But then 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.000 his coach, this former NHL player named Bucko 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.039 McDonald, makes a decision that basically rewrites 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:49.819 hockey history. A massive turning point. He moves 00:02:49.819 --> 00:02:52.340 this lightning fast kid back to defense, but 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:54.939 with a huge caveat. Instead of telling him to 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:58.039 stay back, he actively encourages Orr to use 00:02:58.039 --> 00:03:00.560 his stick handling and his stating speed to make 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.460 offensive rushes. From the defensive zone. Yeah. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.259 What's fascinating here is just how radically 00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:08.400 disruptive that advice was to the established 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:10.599 order of the game back in the 1950s and early 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:13.199 60s. Because the game looked very different back 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:14.939 then. Oh, completely. You have to remember the 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:17.340 traditional constraints of the era. Defensemen 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:20.639 were almost exclusively big, heavy, incredibly 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.389 slow guys. Right, the bruisers. Exactly. Their 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:27.710 job was strictly positional. You stay back, you 00:03:27.710 --> 00:03:30.169 clear the bodies from the front of the net, and 00:03:30.169 --> 00:03:33.469 maybe, if you're lucky, bounce the puck off the 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.030 glass to get it up the ice to the forward. Just 00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:38.969 get it out of the zone. That was it. So McDonald's 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:41.210 decision to let Orr rush the puck from his own 00:03:41.210 --> 00:03:44.129 end completely broke conventional forechecking 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:46.969 schemes. I bet. He essentially created the prototype 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:50.520 for the modern rushing defenseman. opposing teams 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.340 simply didn't know how to forecheck a defenseman 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:55.580 who could just weave through all five of their 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:57.479 players. Uh -huh. Yeah, what do you even do with 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.699 that? You can't do anything. McDonald even had 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:02.120 to defend this radical strategy to Orr's father, 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:04.979 Doug. Oh, really? Yeah, he had to insist that 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:07.539 the kid was simply playing in his natural, albeit 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:10.780 redefined, position. So you have this kid completely 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:14.080 dismantling older teenagers on the ice, and naturally 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.000 the NHL takes notice. Oh, they notice, right. 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:18.470 But they didn't just take notice. The Boston 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:21.310 Bruins swooped in with this intense level of 00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:23.709 desperation. Desperation is the perfect word 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:26.769 for it. Right. So a Bruin scout named Ren Blair 00:04:26.769 --> 00:04:30.009 spots a 12 -year -old Bobby Orr at a youth tournament 00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:33.660 in Ontario. And the Bruins at this time were 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:36.420 a struggling franchise. They desperately needed 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:38.480 a savior. They were at the bottom of the barrel. 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:41.620 Yeah. So Blair watches this kid and describes 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:44.800 him as a combination of Doug Harvey and Eddie 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.480 Shore. Which is high praise. Two of the toughest, 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:50.600 most incredibly skilled legendary players ever. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.699 And the Bruins are so desperate to lock him into 00:04:53.699 --> 00:04:56.079 their pipeline that they invest a thousand Canadian 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.779 dollars just to sponsor his minor hockey team. 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:00.920 And that level of early investment was high. 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:03.120 highly unusual back then, and their desperation 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.040 only grew as Orr got slightly older. Right. By 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:08.100 the time he was 14, the Bruins wanted to formally 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:11.019 sign him. But doing so required navigating this 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:13.420 complex and, quite frankly, often exploitative 00:05:13.420 --> 00:05:15.959 world of early hockey contracts. Yeah, it was 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:18.800 the Wild West. It really was. The Bruins actually 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:22.060 helped launch a brand new junior franchise, the 00:05:22.060 --> 00:05:24.680 Oshawa Generals, primarily so they could place 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:28.149 Orr in their specific developmental system. Which 00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:30.990 is just crazy to think about. And the details 00:05:30.990 --> 00:05:32.850 of this first deal are fascinating, especially 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:35.329 when you compare them to the, you know, billion 00:05:35.329 --> 00:05:37.990 dollar athlete contracts we see today. Oh, it's 00:05:37.990 --> 00:05:40.379 night and day. To get his parents to sign what 00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:43.420 was called a C -form, which essentially bound 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:45.939 him as the exclusive property of the Bruins at 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:49.639 age 18, the Bruins gave the family a $10 ,000 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:52.319 bonus. Which was a lot of money back then. Right, 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.040 a $10 ,000 bonus, a new car, and get this, they 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.740 paid to stucco the family home. Uh -huh, the 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:01.560 stucco. Yeah. Plus, they agreed to let Bobby 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.379 stay in Parry Sound for school. So picture this 00:06:04.379 --> 00:06:07.180 for a second. You have a 14 year old kid commuting 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:09.579 three hours each way every single weekend just 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:12.180 to play high level junior games. All while keeping 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:14.519 up with his homework. Exactly. It sounds like 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.620 a quaint, charming story of old time hockey. 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:20.139 Yeah. Right. But if we connect this to the bigger 00:06:20.139 --> 00:06:23.019 picture. This is exactly where the off -ice drama 00:06:23.019 --> 00:06:25.360 begins to simmer. This is where things get tense. 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:29.500 Very tense. By the time Orr was 16, his father, 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.860 Doug, was becoming increasingly frustrated with 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:35.259 how the Bruins were handling the financial realities 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.579 of his son's future. Because the Bruins held 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:40.800 all the cards. Exactly. The Bruins, like all 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:43.560 NHL teams at the time, were offering what amounted 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.259 to lowball rookie contracts because they held 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.620 an absolute monopoly. Right. There was no free 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:52.560 agency back then. None. The reserve clause meant 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.980 once a team owned your rights, you were their 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:57.759 property, period. Players had virtually zero 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.500 negotiating leverage. Which perfectly sets the 00:07:00.500 --> 00:07:02.920 stage for a pivotal character to enter our story. 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:07.009 Alan Eagleson. The man himself. Doug Orr happens 00:07:07.009 --> 00:07:09.329 to meet Eagleson, who was a Toronto lawyer and 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:11.790 a minor political figure at the time, at a juvenile 00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:14.829 fastball dinner in Parry Sound. Just chance meeting. 00:07:15.009 --> 00:07:18.069 Yeah. Doug asks this lawyer to help navigate 00:07:18.069 --> 00:07:20.230 the Bruins' management, and here's where the 00:07:20.230 --> 00:07:23.490 negotiation gets incredibly tense. The Bruins' 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:27.550 general manager... Happems offers a $5 ,000 signing 00:07:27.550 --> 00:07:31.529 bonus and salaries of $7 ,000 and $8 ,000 for 00:07:31.529 --> 00:07:34.209 Orr's first two years in the league. Which was 00:07:34.209 --> 00:07:37.990 standard. Standard, but low. Eagleson steps in 00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:41.170 and counters with an absolutely unheard of demand. 00:07:44.230 --> 00:07:47.209 And that counteroffer was considered borderline 00:07:47.209 --> 00:07:50.110 offensive by NHL management. I can imagine. Before 00:07:50.110 --> 00:07:53.069 this specific negotiation, players simply walked 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:55.589 into the general manager's office, thanked them 00:07:55.589 --> 00:07:58.050 for the opportunity, and accepted whatever was 00:07:58.050 --> 00:08:00.050 written on the paper. You didn't argue? Never. 00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:02.689 But Eagleson understood leverage. He had a trump 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:04.649 card and he wasn't afraid to play it. What did 00:08:04.649 --> 00:08:06.750 he do? He threatened the Bruins that Orr would 00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:09.269 simply refuse to sign an NHL contract entirely 00:08:09.269 --> 00:08:12.089 and would instead play amateur hockey for the 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:15.410 Canadian national team. Wow. Yeah. For the NHL. 00:08:15.689 --> 00:08:17.970 a league that built its entire brand on featuring 00:08:17.970 --> 00:08:20.129 the absolute best players in the world, losing 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:22.730 a generational talent like Orr to the amateur 00:08:22.730 --> 00:08:25.689 national team was an unthinkable public relations 00:08:25.689 --> 00:08:28.050 disaster. It was an incredible game of chicken. 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:31.069 And Eagleson won. He really did. They end up 00:08:31.069 --> 00:08:33.470 reaching a secret agreement on Hap M's yacht, 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:37.950 the Barbara Lim. They agreed on a $25 ,000 signing 00:08:37.950 --> 00:08:41.330 bonus and a salary that was kept secretly, quote 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:44.289 unquote, under $100 ,000 for the two years. Right. 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:46.639 Just to save the Bruins some face with their 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.559 other players. Exactly. But it officially made 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.120 this teenager the highest paid rookie in the 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.799 history of the National Hockey League. And this 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.039 single negotiation cannot be overstated in its 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:00.960 historical importance. It essentially birthed 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.440 the player's agent era in professional hockey. 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:05.919 It changed everything. It really did. It completely 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.159 shattered the absolute. dictatorial control of 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.899 team owners and demonstrated that players could, 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.820 in fact, organize and fight back for their market 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:18.220 value. And for Alan Eagleson, this launched an 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:21.120 empire. Built entirely on the credibility of 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.259 being the man who successfully signed Bobby Orr, 00:09:23.259 --> 00:09:25.580 Eagleson maneuvered himself into becoming the 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:27.740 executive director of the newly formed National 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:30.179 Hockey League Players Association. He became 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:32.299 untouchable. One of the most powerful men in 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:34.269 the business of sports. Well, we are definitely 00:09:34.269 --> 00:09:36.090 going to come back to Eagleson because that relationship 00:09:36.090 --> 00:09:38.789 takes some incredibly dark turns. It does. But 00:09:38.789 --> 00:09:40.629 let's get back to the ice for a second because 00:09:40.629 --> 00:09:44.309 Orr's arrival in Boston in 1966 was nothing short 00:09:44.309 --> 00:09:46.889 of explosive. Completely explosive. He wears 00:09:46.889 --> 00:09:49.549 number four and he immediately demands respect 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:52.730 from the entire league. In his very first NHL 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:56.289 fight, he takes down Montreal tough guy Ted Harris. 00:09:56.549 --> 00:09:59.480 Just sends a message right away. Yeah. He easily 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:02.220 wins the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.379 top rookie. And the guy who won the Norris Trophy 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:07.659 for Best Defenseman that year, Harry Howell, 00:10:07.779 --> 00:10:10.759 literally accepted his award by telling the crowd 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:13.700 he was glad to win it then because, quote, Orr 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:16.080 will own this trophy from now on. And Howell 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.120 was remarkably prophetic. He really was. The 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.399 hardware Orr collected over the next decade is 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.159 staggering. He went on to win a record eight 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.879 consecutive Norris trophies as the NHL's best 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.460 defenseman. Eight in a row. Eight. He won three 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:33.000 consecutive Hart trophies as the league's most 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.559 valuable player. But perhaps the most mind -bending 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:39.080 statistic of his career is that he remains the 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.059 singular only defenseman in the history of the 00:10:42.059 --> 00:10:45.419 NHL to win the Art Ross trophy as the league's 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:48.360 top scorer. And he didn't just do it once. He 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:50.899 did it twice. Yeah, twice. Just to put that into 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:53.639 perspective for you, the Art Ross is awarded 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:56.059 to the player who accumulates the most points, 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.139 goals, and assists in the entire league. That 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:01.980 is fundamentally a forward's job. Exactly. A 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:03.940 defenseman winning the league scoring title is 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:06.840 essentially like a goalie winning a sprint. It 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:08.980 just shouldn't be physical possible given the 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:10.960 constraints of the position. It requires a complete 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:13.759 reimagining of how the game is played. in the 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.960 legendary 1969 -70 season, or put up an astonishing 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.120 120 points. Unbelievable. And it all culminated 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.139 on May 10, 1970, leading the Bruins to their 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:26.840 first Stanley Cup championship since 1941. And 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:28.720 it ends with arguably the most famous moment 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:30.980 in the history of the sport. The play itself 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:33.299 is burned into the memories of hockey fans. The 00:11:33.299 --> 00:11:36.139 line goal. Yes. It's a quick give -and -go pass 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:38.860 with his teammate Derek Sanderson, just 40 seconds 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:41.740 into overtime against the St. Louis Blues. Orr 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:43.899 crashes the net, scores the cup -winning goal, 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:46.559 gets tripped by Blues defenseman Noel Picard, 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:49.399 and goes flying through the air. And the resulting 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:53.360 photograph by Ray Lissier is iconic. The visual 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.659 of Orr, horizontal, suspended in midair with 00:11:56.659 --> 00:11:59.149 his arms raised in absolute victory. perfectly 00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:01.529 encapsulates his dominance. It's just a perfect 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:04.269 moment. It really is. And to cap off that unbelievable 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:07.529 run, he won four major awards that single season. 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:11.070 The Hart for MVP, the Norris for Best Defenseman, 00:12:11.210 --> 00:12:13.850 the R. Ross for the scoring title, and the Conn 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:17.269 Smythe for Playoff MVP. Wow. That is a sweep 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:19.470 of major awards that has never been duplicated 00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:22.029 by any player in history. So how exactly did 00:12:22.029 --> 00:12:24.269 he do it? Because he wasn't just a massive bruiser 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:26.190 pushing people out of the way. No, not at all. 00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:28.029 When you read the accounts of the players who 00:12:28.029 --> 00:12:30.490 had to face him, it sounds terrifying. The legendary 00:12:30.490 --> 00:12:33.070 Montreal goalie Ken Dryden described the feeling 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:35.289 of Orr rushing the puck up the ice. He said, 00:12:35.350 --> 00:12:38.090 it felt like a five -player stampede moving toward 00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:41.649 you and at his pace. That stampede feeling Dryden 00:12:41.649 --> 00:12:44.309 describes is crucial to understanding Orr's impact. 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:48.539 Because Orr was so fast, so fluid, and possessed 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:51.600 such elite stamina, he could rush the puck deep 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:54.240 into the offensive zone, act as a fourth forward, 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.820 and still recover on defense if the play went 00:12:56.820 --> 00:12:59.200 the other way. Right. He fundamentally altered 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.139 the geometry of the game, forcing opposing coaches 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:05.340 to tear up their playbooks. It's also important 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.059 to note the physical environment he played in. 00:13:07.619 --> 00:13:10.860 The Bocton Gardens ice surface was notoriously 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:13.460 undersized. Oh, really? Yeah, it was actually 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:16.000 nine feet shorter than the standard NHL rink. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.299 Oh, wow. So there was literally less ground for 00:13:18.299 --> 00:13:21.320 him to cover. Precisely. That shorter ice perfectly 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:24.200 suited his end -to -end rushing style. He could 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:26.620 get from his own zone to the opponent's net in 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:29.559 the blink of an eye. His teammate, Eddie Johnson, 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:31.600 summed up the strategy brilliantly. What did 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.320 he say? He said, he makes hockey a 40 -minute 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.450 game for us. He's got the puck 20 minutes by 00:13:36.450 --> 00:13:39.149 himself. Uh -huh. That's amazing. The Bruins' 00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:41.190 best defense, it turned out, was simply Bobby 00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:43.269 Orr possessing the puck so the other team couldn't. 00:13:43.330 --> 00:13:45.950 It makes perfect sense. But playing that high 00:13:45.950 --> 00:13:48.889 -octane, possession -heavy style came with a 00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:51.950 massive physical cost. A terrible cost. Because 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:54.149 he had the puck so much, he was constantly targeted. 00:13:54.429 --> 00:13:57.120 And to protect the puck... or would lead with 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.820 his left knee to fend off opponents. Right, using 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.580 it as a shield. Exactly. That meant his left 00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:05.820 knee took the absolute brunt of every hit, from 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.379 opposing defensemen, from crashing into the boards, 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:10.879 from colliding with goalies. Over his career, 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:14.460 he had 13 or 14 separate surgeries on that left 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:17.179 knee alone. It's hard to even fathom that kind 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:19.500 of pain. Do you remember that brilliant MasterCard 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:22.480 commercial from 2008? I do, actually. They literally 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.299 used the surgical scar lines on his left knee 00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:28.179 as an animated roadmap tracing his incredible 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:30.539 achievement. Yeah, it's a striking visual metaphor 00:14:30.539 --> 00:14:33.440 for the toll the sport extracted from him. While 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:35.840 his right knee was perfectly fine, his left knee 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.879 was systematically destroyed. By the mid -1970s, 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:41.419 it was painfully clear to anyone watching that 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.159 he didn't have much time left on the ice. Bone 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.980 was grinding on bone. Which makes his performance 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.179 in the 1976 International Canada Cup tournament 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:53.399 just awe -inspiring. Truly heroic. He played 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.639 against the absolute best players in the world 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:58.960 on essentially one leg. He was in such agony 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:00.879 he could barely walk to the dressing room before 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.039 or after the games. Yet he dominated the ice 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.700 and was still named the tournament MVP. Amazing. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:08.960 His teammate Daryl Sibler put it perfectly when 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:11.519 he said, Bobby Orr was better on one leg than 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:16.450 anybody else was on two. But 1975 and 1976 weren't 00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:19.590 just defined by excruciating physical pain. This 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:22.389 period is the setting for the ultimate off -ice 00:15:22.389 --> 00:15:25.110 betrayal. Right. Getting back to Eagleson. Yes. 00:15:25.350 --> 00:15:28.090 Orr's contract was ending, and the Bruins' management 00:15:28.090 --> 00:15:30.070 were desperate to keep their franchise player, 00:15:30.309 --> 00:15:33.230 even knowing his knees were ruined. They verbally 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:36.179 offered him a massive, unprecedented deal. It 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:38.779 included a substantial salary, but the crown 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:42.220 jewel of the offer was an 18 .5 % ownership stake 00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:44.559 in the Boston Bruins. Let that sink in for a 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.360 second. An active player being offered almost 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.360 20 % ownership of an original six NHL franchise. 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:51.860 Today, that stake would be worth hundreds of 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:54.200 millions of dollars. It is a mind -blowing offer. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.179 It is staggering. But here's the heartbreaking 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:01.740 twist. Alan Eagleson. The agent Orr trusted completely. 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:04.700 The man who negotiated his first contract, the 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:06.960 man Orr viewed as a protective older brother, 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.059 never told Orr about the ownership offer. Never 00:16:10.059 --> 00:16:12.919 mentioned it at all. Never. Eagleson actively, 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:16.500 deliberately hid it from him. This raises an 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:20.740 incredibly dark question. Why? Why would an agent 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:23.340 hide the deal of a lifetime from his star client? 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:25.419 Because control. Well, Eagleson systematically 00:16:25.419 --> 00:16:27.799 misled Orr, telling him the Bruins offers were 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:30.379 insulting, that they didn't appreciate him, and 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:31.759 that they were trying to lowball him because 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:34.120 of his injuries. And because Orr was fiercely 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.460 loyal, he refused to speak with the Bruins management 00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:39.379 directly. He just trusted Eagleson to handle 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:41.200 everything. And the deception worked perfectly. 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:44.029 It did. Feeling unwanted by the city he loved, 00:16:44.210 --> 00:16:46.669 an injured Bobby Orr left Boston as a free agent 00:16:46.669 --> 00:16:48.730 and signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. 00:16:48.830 --> 00:16:52.409 It was a deeply acrimonious, confusing, and tragic 00:16:52.409 --> 00:16:55.909 end to his era in Boston. And it really highlights 00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:58.730 the unchecked, corrupt power of early sports 00:16:58.730 --> 00:17:01.750 agents. Eagleson hadn't just built an empire 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:04.609 representing players. He had built close, collusive 00:17:04.609 --> 00:17:06.849 relationships with team owners in other cities 00:17:06.849 --> 00:17:09.769 and even with the NHL president. He was playing 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:13.210 his own game. Exactly. He manipulated his own 00:17:13.210 --> 00:17:16.210 star client's career to serve his own overarching 00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:18.630 influence and power within the league's elite 00:17:18.630 --> 00:17:21.730 circles. He wanted to do a favor for the owners 00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:25.359 in Chicago, and he used Orr as a pawn. Orr's 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.980 entire departure from Boston, a move that devastated 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:31.099 him emotionally, was based entirely on a manufactured 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:33.819 lie. And the hits just kept coming. After struggling 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:36.200 to play on a completely deteriorated knee in 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:38.779 Chicago, Orr was finally forced to officially 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:41.700 retire in 1978. He was only 30 years old. Just 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:43.799 30. And shortly after he hung up his skates, 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:46.019 an independent accountant delivered a devastating 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.799 blow. Bobby Orr, the man who signed the NHL's 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.000 first million -dollar contract, the highest -paid 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.660 player of his era, the face of hockey, was essentially 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:55.970 bankrupt. The financial audit revealed that his 00:17:55.970 --> 00:17:58.450 liabilities actually exceeded his assets. How 00:17:58.450 --> 00:18:00.809 does that even happen? Well, Eagleson had set 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:03.230 up a highly complex corporate structure to receive 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:06.230 Orr's income, supposedly as a tax haven to minimize 00:18:06.230 --> 00:18:09.069 his liabilities. But the entire arrangement was 00:18:09.069 --> 00:18:12.309 rejected by tax authorities. Oh, no. Yeah. It 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:14.569 turned out Eagleson had grossly mismanaged the 00:18:14.569 --> 00:18:17.769 accounts and, as it was later revealed, actively 00:18:17.769 --> 00:18:20.549 embezzled funds for his own use. That is sick. 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:24.099 He left Orr deeply in debt. facing massive tax 00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:26.980 bills and legal fees. And when the wall started 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:29.960 closing in, Eagleson even had the audacity to 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:32.539 publicly criticize Orr to the press, claiming 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:35.079 the bankruptcy was Orr's own fault for living 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.400 beyond his means. The nerve of that guy. So what 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.859 does this all mean for Orr's legacy? Because 00:18:39.859 --> 00:18:41.940 this is where the story pivots from tragedy back 00:18:41.940 --> 00:18:44.640 to triumph, showcasing an incredible level of 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.279 off -ice resilience. It really does. Orr didn't 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:49.339 just fade away into bankruptcy and bitterness. 00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:52.630 He fought back. He officially broke all ties 00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:56.069 with Eagleson in 1980. He sued the Chicago Blackhawks 00:18:56.069 --> 00:18:58.190 to settle what they still owed him on his contract. 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:01.529 He moved back to the Boston area, started a business 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:05.589 called Can -Am Enterprises, and slowly, painstakingly 00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:08.490 rebuilt his entire financial life through legitimate 00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:11.690 endorsements and public relations work. And crucially, 00:19:11.789 --> 00:19:15.410 he didn't stop at just saving himself. or became 00:19:15.410 --> 00:19:18.329 an instrumental figure in exposing Allen Eagleson's 00:19:18.329 --> 00:19:20.549 widespread corruption. He brought him down. He 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:23.089 was one of several key players who filed a formal 00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:25.170 complaint that triggered massive investigations. 00:19:25.690 --> 00:19:28.130 Those investigations eventually led to Eagleson 00:19:28.130 --> 00:19:30.950 being convicted of fraud, embezzlement, and racketeering 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:34.190 in 1998. Finally. Eagleson served prison time. 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:36.720 was disbarred and was even forced to resign from 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.680 the Hockey Hall of Fame after Orr and 17 other 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.680 prominent players threatened to publicly quit 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:44.099 the hall if he wasn't removed. That is some serious 00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:47.519 leverage. Yeah. Or also, through his considerable 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.579 weight behind a massive lawsuit challenging the 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:52.660 NHL over its control of the players' pension 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:56.359 plan. It was a grueling legal battle, but the 00:19:56.359 --> 00:19:59.519 players eventually won in 1994. recovering millions 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.920 of dollars that had been unfairly withheld from 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.339 retired athletes. It really speaks to the core 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:06.619 of his character, and his biographical sources 00:20:06.619 --> 00:20:09.380 are full of touching, deeply human anecdotes 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:12.359 about his intense loyalty to his friends and 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:14.279 teammates, especially when they were at their 00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:16.279 lowest. Yeah, the Derek Sanderson story comes 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.000 to mind. Exactly. Take the story of his former 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:22.099 Bruins teammate, Derek Sanderson. Sanderson was 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:24.200 struggling with severe alcohol and prescription 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:26.900 droad addiction. He was sleeping on park benches, 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:30.180 totally penniless. Just a tragic situation. But 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:32.660 Orr stepped in, found him, and spent his own 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:34.819 money to put Sanderson through an intensive rehab 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:38.579 program. He saved his life. Later on, they even 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:40.500 went into business together managing finances 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:42.359 for young athletes to ensure they wouldn't be 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:44.339 exploited like they were. There's also the heartbreaking 00:20:44.339 --> 00:20:47.519 story of Frosty Forrestal, the Bruins' former 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.559 assistant trainer and Orr's old roommate. When 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.640 Forrestal was fired from a job due to his own 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:54.799 struggles with alcoholism and was later diagnosed 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.319 with terminal brain cancer, he had absolutely 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:00.859 nowhere to go. Or quietly took Forrestal into 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:03.880 his own home. He and his wife cared for him for 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:07.440 an entire year until he passed away. Or was a 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.539 pallbearer at his funeral. It shows a profound 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:13.380 sense of duty and compassion that goes far beyond 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:15.819 the ice. It really does. And to give a complete 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.180 picture of his post -hockey life, it just goes 00:21:18.180 --> 00:21:20.619 to show how complex these athletes' lives remain 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:23.440 decades after they retire. For instance, the 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:25.960 source material notes that in 2020, Orr made 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:27.880 headlines again when he took out a full page 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:30.599 ad in a New Hampshire newspaper endorsing Donald 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:32.980 Trump for reelection. Now, we're not endorsing 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:34.799 any political viewpoints here, just sharing this 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.900 detail from the source to illustrate that these 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:39.200 icons continue to use their massive platforms 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:42.480 in varied and sometimes highly debated ways long 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:45.140 after they hang up their skates. Yeah, they remain 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:47.539 highly visible public figures navigating the 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:50.569 modern world. Looking back at the totality of 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:53.309 his journey, from the frozen ponds of Perry Sound 00:21:53.309 --> 00:21:56.190 to the courtrooms taking down a corrupt sports 00:21:56.190 --> 00:21:59.009 empire, it's undeniable how much he shaped the 00:21:59.009 --> 00:22:01.250 game and the business around it. Absolutely. 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:04.089 Or was a human highlight reel who fundamentally 00:22:04.089 --> 00:22:07.819 changed the strategy of hockey? But his legacy 00:22:07.819 --> 00:22:10.200 is equally defined by those grueling off -ice 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:12.799 struggles, which ultimately helped clean up the 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.160 dark, exploitative underbelly of professional 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:17.940 sports. He changed the game on the ice, and he 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.200 changed the business off it. If we connect this 00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:22.339 back to you, the listener, I think Orr's story 00:22:22.339 --> 00:22:26.359 offers a profound lesson in resilience. It shows 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:28.460 that even the most naturally gifted, successful 00:22:28.460 --> 00:22:31.279 individuals in the world can have their trust 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:33.819 weaponized against them. Yeah, no one is immune. 00:22:34.140 --> 00:22:36.420 You can be at the absolute pinnacle of your profession 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:38.799 and still lose everything to someone you consider 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.400 family. But true greatness isn't just about what 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.039 you achieve at your peak. It's shown in how you 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.259 meticulously rebuild yourself after the fall 00:22:47.259 --> 00:22:50.220 and how you fight to ensure that others aren't 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:52.230 exploited the way you were. That is the ultimate 00:22:52.230 --> 00:22:54.950 takeaway, and it leaves me with a final, provocative 00:22:54.950 --> 00:22:58.119 thought for you to ponder today. Consider the 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:00.839 butterfly effect of Bobby Orr's fragile left 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:04.160 knee. If modern sports medicine like advanced 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.220 arthroscopic surgery had existed in the 1970s, 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.180 if doctors could have preserved his knee and 00:23:09.180 --> 00:23:11.500 prevented his premature retirement at age 30, 00:23:11.819 --> 00:23:13.859 he likely would have played for another decade. 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:16.900 Easily. But if he had kept playing, kept trusting 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:19.980 his agent, would Alan Eagleson's massive financial 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.640 deception have remained hidden for decades longer? 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:26.799 Did the tragic early end to Orr's on - career 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.420 ultimately saved the financial futures of countless 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:31.599 other players by forcing him to look at the books 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.599 and expose the corruption when he did. Wow. That 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:36.900 is a fascinating what if to think about. It really 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:38.940 is. Thank you so much for joining us on this 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:41.380 deep dive into the incredible life of Bobby Orr. 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:42.380 We'll see you next time.