Greatest Defenseman All Time - Bobby Orr or Nick Lidstrom

If you ask the average hockey fan, who was the greatest defenseman to ever play the game of hockey, most would say it was Bobby Orr.  Orr was great, he played 12 NHL seasons between the years 1966 and 1979.  He accumulated 270 goals and 915 points in only 657 games.  He transformed the way defenseman play the way he would rush the puck up the ice from the offensive zone.  There truely was no one that could hold a candle to him during his career.  He won the Norris Trophy 8 times, the Hart Trophy for league MVP 3 times, and the Conn Smythe trophy twice for playoff MVP.  However his career was cut short because of constant knee injuries towards the end of his career.

There's another defenseman that is changing opinions of who is the greatest defenseman to play, and that's Nick Lidstrom.  Nick Lidstrom has been the best defenseman in hockey for most of the last 20 years.  In 20 seasons, all with the Detroit Red Wings, Nick Lidstrom is a slick skating defenseman with elite offensive skill as well as incredible defensive skills.  In 1,542 games played Lidstrom has 263 goals, 1,134 points, he as won the Norris Trophy for best defenseman 7 times, and the Conn Smythe trophy once. At age 41 he is still the top, if not a top 5 defenseman in the league today.  Throughout his career he has missed a grand total of 32 games. 

For me there is no question that Nick Lidstrom is the greatest defenseman ever to play the game of hockey.  Here's the major reasons why I feel this way.

1. Lidstrom has played his entire career without any major injuries while Orr's career was cut short by injury.
2. Lidstrom plays in the modern era of 30 NHL teams, and the players that play today's game are in another league in terms of skill, talent, and speed compared to players that played in the 1960's and 1970's. 
3. Lidstrom has never been on a team that missed the playoffs and year in and year out the Detroit Red Wings are among the elite contenders to win the Stanley Cup.
4. Bobby Orr is known mostly for his offensive prowess, but Nick Lidstrom is known for both is Offensive skill as well as his elite defensive skill.
5. Nick Lidstrom's defensive play rarely gets him called for a penalty. Lidstrom can play physical but his defensive stick skill is better than anyone ever to play the game.

Now you may disagree with this, but here are a few arguements from fans that say Bobby Orr is the greatest defenseman of all time.

1. Bobby Orr changed the way the game is played.
- Yes he did, however Patrick Roy changed the way the game is played for goaltenders yet Martin Brodeur is considered the top goaltender of all time.  Eric Lindros's career came to a screeching halt due to injuries but he changed the game due to his size and dominance, players like Rich Nash and Joe Thorton follow in Lindros's steps as elite power forwards. And yet Lindros isn't even in the conversation of greatest player in the game, much less greatest center of all time.
- Nick Lidstrom changed the NHL game too, before Lidstrom was drafted, European trained players were considered as wild cards and no team would invest a high pick in a European born player.  Today European born players are drafted in the same positions as North American born players.

2. Bobby Orr's career was cut short by injuries, if it wasn't he would be unanimously the top defenseman in the game. 
- Pleanty of NHL player's have had their careers cut short due to injuries.  Ed Belfour, Mario Lemeiux, Peter Forsberg are a few big names that come to mind who were elite players but had their careers cut short due to injury.

Nicklas Lidstrom is the greatest defenseman to ever play the game of hockey. There's nothing more to say.