40 years since the picturesque Bobby Orr goal

It doesn’t seem that it is almost 40 years since the photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air after he scored the game-winning overtime goal to give the Boston Bruins the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 29 years was snapped.

The Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues, and Orr forever was frozen in a picture like Superman. And the truth was, for the Boston Bruins, Bobby Orr was Superman.

Bruins ownership will salute that team March 18 prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Between 1941 and 1970, there were some years when the Bruins were the worst squad in the NHL. There also were missed opportunities — in 1958, Boston lost to Montreal in the Stanley Cup Final.

There were two key components to the Bruins’ turnaround from NHL doormats to Stanley Cup champions. Orr joined the Bruins in 1966, four years after Boston signed him to a contact when he was 14 years old. Bruins General Manager Milt Schmidt also engineered a trade with Chicago, sending Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris to the Blackhawks for Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield in June 1967.

Esposito and Orr blended perfectly. Esposito would plant himself in front of the net and pick up a good many goals that were set up by Orr. By the 1969-70 season, Boston had all the ingredients needed to field a championship team.

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