Promoting his new book, Bobby Orr says, "Imagine me playing in a system."

By Allan Muir

It's not that Bobby Orr has been a recluse since he retired from hockey back in 1978. He's been active as a player agent and has happily attached his image to brands including Bay Bank, MasterCard, Reebok and Chevrolet.

But Orr's never been really comfortable talking about himself or what he accomplished during his short but spectacular 10-year career. And if not for Stephen Brunt's excellent, but unauthorized, 2006 biography, Searching for Bobby Orr, he might have been perfectly content keeping his thoughts to himself for the rest of his life.

But Brunt's work clearly stirred up a desire in Orr to tell his story his own way. And so now, after spending a couple of years putting his thoughts together, he is strangely, wonderfully everywhere as he makes the rounds to promote his book, Orr: My Story, which is out today. An excerpt will appear on SI.com on Wednesday.

Last night, the real Great One sat down with the CBC's Peter Mansbridge to talk about his style ("I never heard of a system growing up. Imagine me playing in a system."), his pain (he estimates he underwent "19 or 20" surgical procedures on his knees) and, of course, The Goal.