Top 5 NHL players whose careers were painfully cut short by injuries ft. Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr is one of the best players in NHL history but his career was cut short due to injury.

With the NHL being physical and a grind, injuries happen pretty often. Usually, injuries in hockey aren't significant and players can return to the ice and keep playing in the NHL.

However, sometimes injuries end players' careers, so let's look at the top five NHL players who had their careers cut short.

1. Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr dealt with knee injuries since his rookie season in the NHL but even with that, he was the best player in the league. The defenseman began his career during the 1966-67 season with the Boston Bruins and put up 41 points in 61 games.

After playing under 70 games for the next two seasons, Orr took over the league and recorded over 100 points over the next six seasons and won the Art Ross Trophy. He was the first defenseman to win the award.

Unfortunately, after six straight seasons of more than 100 points, the knee injuries flared up again and Orr played just 10, 20, and six games in his last three seasons. He retired due to the injuries in 1978.

2. Mike Bossy

Mike Bossy retired due to chronic knee and back pains

Mike Bossy is one of the best players of all time and helped the New York Islanders win four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.

Bossy played in 10 NHL seasons. He played in 752 games, recording 573 goals and 553 assists for 1,126 points. Although 10 seasons is a solid NHL career, Bossy still was one of the best players in the league but spent most of the 1986-87 season sitting out due to chronic knee and back injuries.

Following that season, Bossy announced his retirement due to the injuries.

3. Vladimir Konstantinov

Vladimir Konstantinov had an unfortunate ending to his NHL career.

The Russian made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings in 1991-92 and only played six seasons in the NHL. After helping Detroit win the Stanley Cup in 1997, just six days later he was in a limousine accident that left him paralyzed and forced to retire from the NHL.

In his short career, Konstantinov recorded 174 points in 446 games and was a Stanley Cup champ.

4. Pavel Bure

Pavel Bure is a unique name on this list as he did play parts of 13 seasons in the NHL, which seems like a good career. But, it's when you dig deeper into it that you realize his career was cut short due to injuries.

Bure dealt with chronic knee problems and out of those 13 seasons, he played under 70 games in eight of them and played in just 12 and 39 games in his final two seasons. Out of the 13 seasons, only three times he played 80 or more games, so although he had what seems like a long career, he still lost hundreds of games due to knee injuries that forced him to retire.

5. Cam Neely

Cam Neely retired at age 31

Cam Neely played 13 seasons in the NHL but was forced to retire at age 31 due to injuries.

Neely had knee and hip injuries and never played over 50 games in the final five years of his career. In his career, the bruiser played in 726 games and recorded 694 points as he was one of the better players of his time, but he couldn't stay healthy.