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Bobby Orr, a two-time Stanley Cup winner in three finals appearances, is the only defenseman to twice win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Orr and Paul Coffey, who won three Cups in seven finals appearances, are the only defensemen to average more than a point per playoff game over their careers.
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But the game's two most dynamic offensive defensemen would tell you the playoffs
are all about the team, so the criteria for our list of the greatest playoff
defensemen of all time was simple: Who helped his team triumph the most?
1. Serge Savard. Eight Stanley Cups in eight finals with Montreal, 1968-79. Before his career was hampered by two broken legs, Savard "did everything at a level like Orr," says Bob Clarke, a playing peer and now general manager of the Flyers. "When he came back, his offense was just passing, not carrying, but he was so smart (he) controlled what was going on around him so easily that you would be standing with nowhere to go, not knowing how you got there, except that he put you there."
2. Doug Harvey. Six Cups in 10 finals with Montreal, 1950-60. The forerunner of the revolutionary puck-carrying Orr and so much more. "They couldn't get the puck off him," says former NHL coach Scotty Bowman, who described Harvey as being "competitive, feared, but calm."
3. Larry Robinson. Five Cups in five finals with Montreal, 1973-79. "Devastating checks, carried the puck and shot it," Clarke says. "And you could not get around him."
4. Guy Lapointe. Six Cups in six finals with Montreal, 1971-79. "As good as Savard and Robinson were, of the three, it was still very hard to pick," Bowman says.
5. Denis Potvin.
Four Cups in five finals, 1980-84. "A tank on his skates," Clarke
says. "As complete as anyone, and the elite power-play defenseman who could
pass it and wrist it harder than most players can slap it."