Editing Bobby Orr (section)

===Retirement===
[[File:Mayor Raymond L. Flynn and Bobby Orr (9614721073).jpg|thumb|Orr (right) with Boston Mayor [[Raymond Flynn]] circa 1984–1987]]

Orr signed with Chicago, but his injuries limited him to only 26 games over the next three seasons. He sat out the entire [[1977–78 NHL season|1977–78 season]]. By 1978, Orr had undergone over a dozen knee surgical procedures, was having trouble walking and barely skated any more. However, in the summer of 1978, he decided to make a comeback.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Palm Beach Post |agency=Associated Press |date=November 9, 1978 |title=Orr Retires As Player, Retains Coaching Post}}</ref> He played six games of the [[1978–79 NHL season|1978–79 season]] and came to the conclusion that he could no longer play and informed the Black Hawks that he was retiring. He started a new role as an assistant to Chicago general manager [[Bob Pulford]].<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Orr Forced to Retire Knee Ends Comeback |date=November 9, 1978 |page=4B |work=The Sumter Daily Item}}</ref> He scored his last NHL goal and point against Detroit on October 28, 1978, at Detroit's [[Detroit Olympia|Olympia Stadium]].

Orr retired having scored 270 goals and 645 assists for 915 points in 657 games, adding 953 penalty minutes. At the time of his retirement, he was the leading defenceman in league history in goals, assists and points, tenth overall in assists and 19th in points. {{As of|2018}}, the only retired players in league history to have averaged more points per game than Orr are [[Wayne Gretzky]], [[Mario Lemieux]] and [[Mike Bossy]], all of them forwards.{{sfn|Dinger|2010|p=173}} "Losing Bobby", said [[Gordie Howe]], "was the greatest blow the National Hockey League has ever suffered".<ref name="bruins-retiring-no" />

The [[Hockey Hall of Fame]] waived the normal three-year waiting period for induction into the Hall and he was enshrined at age 31 – the youngest player living at the time of his induction in history.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYIkAAAAIBAJ&pg=5040,3100991&hl=en |title= Orr voted in hockey Hall of Fame |work= [[Beaver County Times]] |access-date= February 18, 2010 |date= June 13, 1979 |first= Mike |last= Tully |archive-date= February 9, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230209170209/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYIkAAAAIBAJ&pg=5040,3100991&hl=en |url-status= live }}</ref> Orr was the eighth player to have the three-year period waived, the next two being [[Mario Lemieux]] (1997) and [[Wayne Gretzky]] (1999), after which the Hall decided that the waiting period would no longer be waived for any player except under "certain humanitarian circumstances".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/30/sports/plus-hockey-hall-of-fame-committee-approves-waiver-for-gretzky.html|title=Committee Approves Waiver for Gretzky|date=April 30, 1999|access-date=December 25, 2007|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|archive-date=December 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204010227/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/30/sports/plus-hockey-hall-of-fame-committee-approves-waiver-for-gretzky.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/ind02facts.htm |title=Induction facts & figures |access-date=December 25, 2007 |publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame |work=Legends of Hockey |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626045238/http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/ind02facts.htm |archive-date=June 26, 2009 }}</ref>
[[File:Banners at the Garden.jpg|thumb|Player numbers retired by the Bruins hoisted at the [[TD Garden]] rafters. Orr's number was retired with the club in 1979.]]
His number 4 jersey was retired by the Bruins on January 9, 1979. At the ceremony, the crowd at Boston Garden would not stop applauding and as a result, most of the evening's program had to be scrapped at the last second due to the constant cheering.<ref name="bruins-retiring-no" /> The crowd did not allow Orr to say his thank you speech until he put on a Bruins jersey. The day was proclaimed "Bobby Orr Day" in Boston and the event raised thousands of dollars for charity. He attended the [[Massachusetts Senate]] and [[Massachusetts House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and was given a five-minute standing ovation.<ref name="bruins-retiring-no" /> [[Boston Celtics]] basketball superstar [[Larry Bird]] said in his pre-game inspiration that he always looked up at the rafters of the Garden at Orr's retired No. 4, instead of the retired numbers of Celtics stars such as [[Bill Russell]], [[Bob Cousy]], or [[John Havlicek]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/bird/flashbacks/1988flash.html |work=CNN |title=A Player for the Ages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404102817/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1998/bird/flashbacks/1988flash.html |archive-date=April 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=ESPN |title=Orr's great goal |first=Larry |last=Schwartz |url=https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016392.html |access-date=May 31, 2017 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003820/http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016392.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=The Telegraph |title=Bird's Inspiration? No. 4, Bobby Orr |author=The Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19880203&id=_v8lAAAAIBAJ&pg=5513,473030 |date=February 3, 1988 |access-date=May 31, 2017 |page=17 |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019184152/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19880203&id=_v8lAAAAIBAJ&pg=5513,473030 |url-status=live }}</ref>