BOSTON -- On the night to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his first game in the NHL, Boston Bruins legend and Hall of Fame defenseman Bobby Orr gave his state of the current game and said what he would do to fix it.
"I think the game is fine," Orr said. "My only concern with the game today is these guys are so big and so fast and we're so open, look at the injuries we have and I've been saying this, and many people get upset with me when I say it, but I think somehow, we've got to slow the game down a little bit, and the only way you can do that is put the center line back in."
After the 2004-05 NHL lockout, a new rule was instituted to increase flow through the neutral zone in an attempt to create more offense.
The center red line was deemed to be "ignored," allowing for two-line passes, which were previously illegal from behind the defensive blue line to the attacking blue line. Orr, an eight-time Norris Trophy winner, believes the red line should be back in play.
"Make the players make plays coming out of their end, pass and handle the puck," he said before the Bruins' 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils in Boston's home opener. "We've changed the rules to increase the offense, and if the player can't pass it from their goal line to the other blue line, or throw it up the glass, it's going to make players handle the puck. The forechecking can be more sustained, and it might create more offense that way.
"I just think we're so big and so strong, guys are going through the middle looking over their shoulders. When I played, we had a big player or two and they couldn't move. These big guys can catch you today, and the player is bigger and stronger. They're faster, bigger players and it really is a concern to me, the speed and it's hard on our players, on injuries, and I think we need to get the center line back in."
Orr, now 68, was the first player in NHL history to record six consecutive 100-point seasons.