Wayne Gretzky Hilariously Recalls Imitating Bruins Legend Bobby Orr

Wayne Gretzky is revered as one of the best hockey players of all-time, but even he made miscues during his playing career.

“The Great One” was on the desk at FLA Live Arena for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers. During the preview, while talking about taping up a hockey stick, Gretzky was quick to tee up a story about Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr.

“Bobby Orr only used one strand, sometimes no strands on the blade,” Gretzky said on the TNT broadcast, per Bleacher Report. “One game I was playing, I had no tape on the stick. After the game, my dad said to me, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘Well, Bobby Orr plays with no tape.’ And he said, ‘Well, you’re not Bobby Orr.’ I started taping my stick from then.”

A harsh but fair assessment from Walter Gretzky as Orr truly was a one-of-a-kind player. Wayne Gretzky holds the Bruins icon in such high regard that he called for the NHL to name an award after him to better credit the true defenseman in the NHL rather than those who simply score the most points.

Tyler Bertuzzi is one of the few current players who also doesn’t tape up his stick nor does he have a plug at the top of the lumber. However, he had a more humorous reason to not add more equipment to his stick than Orr.