Orr Shares Stories During 50th Anniversary Celebration

BostonBruins.com - When Bobby Orr took flight 50 years ago this week, bedlam erupted inside Boston Garden. As the Bruins poured onto the ice to celebrate the club's first Stanley Cup championship in 29 years, so too did hundreds of fans, who climbed over the glass - which during that era was far shorter than it is today.
So, you might wonder, what ever happened to the puck from that iconic Cup-clinching goal? What about Orr's other equipment from that unforgettable Mother's Day afternoon on Causeway Street?
Well, Orr answered those questions - and many more - from his home in Florida on Wednesday morning during a lengthy conference call with the Boston media.
Here are some of the best stories:

On if he still has the puck and all of his equipment from 'The Goal'…
I have the puck. Mrs. Adams [from the Bruins ownership group] gave me the puck. I had my gloves, I had all my equipment, and when I came back from Chicago [years later], I threw my duffle bag in the basement. Our babysitter came back with us and she had a cat.
I was going to play an old-timer's game and I called [my wife] Peg and said, 'Would you mind getting the bag out of the basement and just air it out cause I'm gonna use it in a couple weeks.' The cat had been using it as a litter box.
The equipment is all gone. All I have is the puck. And I also have a stick.
On when he first remembers seeing the photo of 'The Goal'…
I met [the photographer from the Record-American] Ray [Lussier]. I didn't know him well. But I met him before he passed. The first time I saw it, we were staying at the Colonial Hilton during the playoffs and my father was in with some friends.
The first time I saw the photo, I went to breakfast the next morning with my father…dad had a copy of the Record American with the photo and that was the first time I saw it. I didn't think I'd see it so often.

On being heckled by Rangers fans outside of Madison Square Garden…
New York was always a hoot. The fans in New York were always great - we had a backdoor where we would sneak out of the Garden and we're walking down the street and some fans started hooting and hollering and I kind of turned one night and I'm yelling back at them. What do you think I do? I run into a pole. That was a great laugh in New York.
On being booed by Maple Leafs fans in Toronto…
My mother did attend a game in Toronto once, she was with Mrs. Walton, [former Bruins forward] Mike Walton's mother. And Mike Walton's mother was a wonderful lady, very trim and proper. She was sitting next to a fan - and you have to remember that each time I touched the puck in Toronto I would get booed.
I picked the puck up and they started booing me. And there's someone beside Mrs. Walton booing me and Mrs. Walton turned to him and said, 'You know, you shouldn't boo Bobby.' And he said, 'Why not?" She said, 'Because his mother's at the game.' That was Mrs. Walton.
On his father's interaction with fans at the Stanley Cup parade…
I see my father the next day and he doesn't have any suit coats. I said to him, 'I know you came with a suit. Where's your suit coat?' He said, 'Oh, I gave it away during the parade.' Someone asked my father for a suit coat and he gave somebody a suit coat…a total stranger.
On forming a bond with the fans and growing the game in New England…
It's wonderful that the game is growing the way it is. Back in the 70s we didn't have a lot of European players, if any, in our game. Hockey grew all over the world and I think it's wonderful. Back in our days, we were aware that rinks were being built and so on and so forth and it was great.
Our guys used to be out doing clinics and appearances, a lot of appearances, getting to know the people, rubbing shoulders with people. We loved it, the fans loved it. It was really a great thing to be a part of.