Bobby Orr holds the National Hockey League record for most assists by a defenseman, but a UWindsor professor has one-upped him, providing the Boston Bruin great with an assist in a unique endeavour: his first official memoir.

Education professor Vern Stenlund, a former Lancer men’s hockey head coach, spent the better part of three years to help Orr produce Bobby Orr: My Story, released yesterday by the Penguin Publishing Group.

“It has been a thrill for me to work alongside Bobby on this special project and to help share his incredible story with hockey fans around the world,” said Dr. Stenlund. “I especially want to thank my colleagues and the administration at the University of Windsor for their support throughout this three-year journey. I’m very proud to be a faculty member here at the U of W.”

Stenlund met Orr while the two worked together on the Chevrolet Safe and Fun Hockey program. The pair has been leading the values-based hockey program for the past 15 years, alongside director Harold Konrad.

Orr, a native of Parry Sound, Ontario, is widely considered to be one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the game. He played for the Boston Bruins from 1966 to 1976, and then two more years for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Among his many records and honours, he remains the only defenseman to win the Art Ross Trophy league scoring title—twice—and still holds the record for most points and assists at that position. He won a record eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL’s best defenseman, three consecutive Hart Trophies as the league’s MVP, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as the Stanley Cup MVP. At 31, he became the youngest living player ever to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Today, Orr is the president of the Orr Hockey Group agency and lives in both Cape Cod and Florida.

No stranger to the game of hockey himself, Stenlund is a former junior star with the London Knights, leading the squad with 119 points in the 1975-76 season. Picked in the second round of the NHL draft by the California Golden Seals in 1976, he played with the Cleveland Barons before transitioning into a coaching role with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, the Lancers men’s program, and the Leamington Flyers, Windsor Bulldogs, and Chatham Maroons of the Western Ontario Junior B League.

He has published six books on the game of hockey and was also named a master mentor coach by the Ontario Hockey Association as part of the National Coaches Mentorship Program.