Q&A With Bobby Orr

Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun recently had a chance to interview the man that many will tell you is the greatest hockey player of all time - Bobby Orr.

Here's a snippet:

Q. “Your knees, or bad knees, ended your career prematurely. How are they now? Have you had knee replacement surgery on either knee, or both?”

Orr: “My knees are great. I've had both done. They are fabulous. I can do a lot on them. I ride a bike. I walk. I don't run but I can do a lot. Before I had them replaced, I had a difficult time going upstairs and downstairs. It was very hard. It's an amazing surgery, it really is. I'll skate with the kids in the Safe and Fun Program but it's very light skating. I won't play in any games, though. My balance is a little shaky.”

Q. “Don Cherry was one of your coaches on the Bruins and he's said many nice things about you over the years. Here's your chance for equal time. How good a coach was Don? What was it like playing for him?”

Orr: “Everybody wanted to play for Don. He was fair but he was also tough. He understood your level. He understood what he wanted from you and what you could do. He was a great motivator and he knew a lot more about the game than you might think. He was no bull. You knew where you stood with him and, hey, we were men and that's the way it should be. He loved his players. He was a players' coach. He protected his players. If you did your job and you did it right, there was no problem with Don. But he wasn't going to accept a player who wasn't playing to the level he expected.”

Here's the full interview.