o students of Bobby Orr, the spectacular has become routine, and the routine has become unacceptable. One of a defenseman's primary jobs is to get the puck out of his own end and down the ice, and some players carry out this task with all the grace and ease of a starving man eating a pomegranate through a screen door. Orr does it routinely. Photograph by Tony Triolo Text by Jack Olsen In 1970, Bobby Orr was the Boston Bruins' ace defenseman and the NHL's leading scorer. Orr was the prototype for today's offensive-minded rushing defensemen. Named the NHL's top defenseman for eight consecutive years, Orr may have been the greatest ever to play his position. Plagued by bad knees, Orr was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1978. He retired after playing only a few games with Chicago. Orr, 49, is a spokesman for MasterCard International's sponsorship of the NHL.
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