Bobby Orr's retirement ceremony from January 9, 1979 is on YouTube in pieces. I like this piece (part two), which includes a nearly seven-minute standing ovation.
By the way, I love the ad in the Boston Garden for the "Panasonic Stereo Home Video Recorder."
For Orr, it was his proper return to Boston, after leaving there under sad, strange circumstances, in which he thought he had a deal with the B's, including part-ownership, but his agent told him there was a better deal to be had with the Blackhawks. It was shady, to say the least.
If I had been a die-haahd B's fan, I would have cried like a baby watching Ray Borque, who I have tremendous admiration for to begin with, taking off his sweater and giving the number seven that he was wearing to the great Phil Esposito. "Espo" had left Boston for the Rangers during the '75-76 season and had some good years, but he will always be a Bruin and this ceremony didn't take place until December 3, 1987 (obvious by the glasses Phil is wearing).
We hate on Boston frequently (especially their baseball team...and I guess their football team as well), but they're largely great sports fans, and I think their hockey often gets sadly overlooked. Plenty of other YouTube goodness like this to be found, if you care.
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