The owner of the Bruins wisely cautioned him that, for someone not bred to wealth, it would ruin his life. [Vancouver Canucks forward] Bobby Lalonde was 5-foot-4. Money was new and scary for him, he says. I tell you, every face-off when we were down or not playing well, they'd let you sleep for eight or nine or 10 minutes in Boston. Through the 2021-22 campaign, his 24 short-handed tallies in the regular season ranked third behind Brad Marchand and Rick Middleton in club history. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. When youre a defenseman you are not going to go behind the net but he reached in and that was all I needed.. Do you have pictures of Gracie Thompson from the movie Gracie's choice. On behalf of the City of Boston Sanderson has counselled tens of thousands of wayward children. [4] At season's end, Sanderson was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the Rookie of the Year, an honor that his teammate Orr had claimed the previous year. It was over pretty quickly and Bobby took a chance along the wall, said Sanderson. I used to watch the Big Bad Bruins on my grandparents television set in Hyannis growing up, Sherman said. WebWhy is Derek Sanderson called Turk? Then on the spur of the moment took several women to Hawaii for a weekend jaunt. But they're on top of you, they've got all the leverage. He also had 98 penalty minutes, establishing himself as something of a "tough guy" in the league. He did everything for everybody and it came to him. This season, home is where the hockey is. In his book, 'Crossing the Line: The Outrageous Story of a Hockey Original, Derek Sanderson, who played for five NHL teams throughout his career including the Bruins and the Blues shares his hockey highs and lows and moments that would eventually see him homeless and living on the street. But I realized that I needed help. The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox. For him to get that goal, Bobby, I was so happy. He had me pay attention to every face-off. For Sanderson, the tough hockey player and ultimate playboy, it must have taken an immense change of heart for him to get down on his knees and say, God help me, I cannot live this way any longer.. Dereks off-ice troubles with alcohol and drugs were chipping away at his on-ice talents. The two Stanley Cup championships, 1970 and 1972 1970 and 1972 were, but for the man they called "Turk," the first one had He played 13 games with the Penguins and eight more in the minors before his release. Despite his attack on the "franchise," Sanderson actually gained a lot of respect from fans and management for his style of play that game. He called NHL commissioner Clarence Campbell "a stuffed shirt," and said of the Montreal Canadiens, "They are full of Frenchmen and I hate Frenchmen." Then it was over pretty quickly. But Harry Sinden, there was nothing he did not think of. e track upcoming movies through all stages of film production. His third autobiography came out in October, and it's the first that tells the entire story. But I wore a tuxedo that night - St. Louis, they're not gonna beat us, so I wore a tuxedo to the Garden. There were two aspects of Sandersons game that were crucial in the recently expanded NHL when he broke in with the Bruins in the 1968-69 season. Jean-Guy Talbot should never have come to me and when he came to me and poke checked me and flipped it over, the rest was up to Bobby. " Read more about cookies here. After their series victory over the Rangers followed by a sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 196970 playoffs, the Bruins faced the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals. This made Turk groggy. In just a few years, hed gone from being the worlds best-paid athlete to a drunk sleeping on a park bench. WebDerek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who set up the epic overtime goal scored by Boston Bruins teammate Bobby Orr that clinched the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, widely considered to be the greatest goal in National Hockey League history. ", "I got up and left," Sanderson said. That was all I needed, just a little opening. What time does normal church end on Sunday? To see your localized preferences, please enable geolocation services in your browser settings. "Somewhere along the way you meet up with responsibility and it's usually a woman standing there saying this is what we need to do.". Calgary Flames fire head coach Darryl Sutter, Panthers restricting ticket sales for series against Maple Leafs to U.S. residents, Playoff Takeaways: Tkachuk, Panthers stun Bruins, face new challenge in Maple Leafs, Bruins blew a 3-1 lead: Hockey world reacts to Panthers historic win over Boston, Cheveldayoffs words fall flat due to lack of accountability, plan for Jets future. And as the team celebrates the 50th Anniversary of its 1970 Cup championship, Sanderson sat down to remember some of the best stories and anecdotes from that era during a 45-minute virtual town hall with season ticket holders and media on Tuesday afternoon. Later this year, the movie "Turk" (Sanderson's nickname) is scheduled to be released. "I told him he was good to me when I was 15 and I owed him that," he said. All Boston's ever asked is that you work hard. Use arrows to navigate between autocomplete results. Of his time in New York, Sanderson talks of living under a bridge, eating out of dumpsters and panhandling. His long brown hair settled on his shoulders, matching his moustache perfectly a standard look for a 26-year-old professional hockey player from Niagara Falls in 1972. Still, Sanderson won the Calder Trophy in 1968 as NHL Rookie of the Year, and was a key component in the Bruins' championship teams, making the pass to Orr that set up the famous overtime goal that won the 1970 Cup. They agreed to meet the Derek Sanderson faced a number of personal challenges throughout his career, some typical of a pro-athlete. Wanting to make sure that other hockey players would not follow his path, Sanderson organized The Professionals Group at State Street Global Advisors, where he was Director of The Sports Group that provided professional financial advice to athletes in the 1990s. He says he made the perfect pass to Bobby Orr who went flying through the air to score the goal that won the Stanley Cup. Get a hold of Harry and write a book. {* traditionalSignIn_signInButton *}, Comment and participate in our online community. Contents copyright 2016 Orbit Enterprises, Inc. One of the good stories is Esposito in the [hospital] bed and I wasn't a part of that. WebNarrated by Boston native, Primetime Emmy Award-nominee and star of Mad Men John Slattery, Center of Attention follows Sandersons journey from humble beginnings, to A serious knee injury. I never went into a game that Harry Sinden didn't give me something to think about. Sindens hunch created a few grumblings on the bench but proved to be the right move. The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Sanderson as a free agent in 197778. WebBobby Orr, Edward Burns, Derek Sanderson and Aaron Lubin attend the "Turk" Movie Launch Event at W Boston on January 9, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. Bobby got right up and said, 'That's it. He grudgingly acceded to The Turks request to unlock the front door of a burgundy sedan so he could size up the front seat. Its a poverty thing.. [Wayne] Cashman said, 'No, you're not.' Instead, he explained basic principles such as compound interesthow the $56,000 an athletes brother wants for a new SUV could be worth $600,000 when the athlete is 65, if properly invested. Enter your email below and we'll send you another email. With the NHL shut down in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Bruins are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their 1970 Stanley Cup season. Tweet Cosmopolitan magazine named him one of America's 10 sexiest men. Years earlier, the hockey star had given power of attorney to the lawyer, a long-time family friend. Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Sanderson was the son of Canadian Army Private Harold A. Sanderson, and Caroline Hall Gillespie of Dysart, Scotland. Enter your email address to get a new one. As was the case in St. Louis, the front office grew impatient with his personal and health issues and released him after the season. He broke to the net on a give-and-go and (Blues defenseman) Jean Guy Talbot should never have come to me. Brad Marchand is the player to me who is gritty and in your face and hes got a great pair of hands, said Sanderson. It's a 50-50 chance you'll get it, right? He first prescribed Valium. He told clients about the lessons hes learned, about how lonely he felt surrounded by a world he purchased. You may have created an account with another Rogers Media account that can be used to sign in here. I also remember the ad On the ice, he did it all. Eddie Westfall. Sherman, who spent time with Sanderson during the four months he worked on the script, said he was a young fan of Sandersons. On November 1, in a game at Cleveland, Sanderson suffered a back injury when he slipped on a piece of paper on the ice. So I asked Sanderson what finally saved his life. The image of Orr flying though the air after whipping the puck past St. Louis goalie Glenn Hall in indelibly etched in the minds of most hockey fans, Bruin supporter or not. But due to alcohol and drug addiction, Sandersons career and life cratered and, by his own account, he was left penniless and sleeping on park benches. [20] His second autobiography, Crossing the Line: The Outrageous Story of a Hockey Original, written with Kevin Shea, was released in October 2012. Enter Search Term. Sanderson did know how to grab a headline. After signing his contract with the Blazers, Sanderson covered a month-long excursion to Hawaii for seven people on his American Express gold card a bill of close to $47,000. My hair was really long and unwashed, I hadnt shaved for a while, and my clothes were filthy. The player Bruins fans called Turk was young, brash, outspoken with movie-star looks and tuned into the cultural transformation taking place in Boston during the late 1960s. That something was a couple shots of Scotch, until a couple shots was no longer enough. What has Harry Sinden meant to the Bruins organization over the years? The game is meant to be played with 16 guys - 10 forwards, three lines and an extra; two D pairs and an extra. Remember in our day, there was only one coach. He actually cut with a saw and sawed off his shin pads because the normal ones wouldn't fit him. [13] It also turned out to be the signature moment for both players in their careers. I watched him, I think it was his first training camp. Their son, Scott Leslie Sanderson, died at birth on October 4, 1981, in Niagara Falls. But signs of trouble developed immediately. For those who missed out on tix to our sold-out performance on Sunday - We are expanding capacity to celebrate the B's in the Stanley They agreed to meet the next day. Not that it was a fluke, but he did everything right, took it to another planet. Sinden responded, "How many times have you told me you were misquoted. Along with New England Patriots receiver Jim Colclough and the New York Jets star football quarterback Joe Namath, he opened Bachelors III, a trendy nightclub on New York Citys Upper East Side. There was 20-something guys and everybody liked everybody. Over 13 NHL seasons, he amassed 202 goals, 250 assists, 911 penalty minutes and a plus-141 rating in 598 games with five teams. The image I projected was that I was this crazy playboy, and I believed my own hype, but the truth was that I was just an insecure kid from Niagara Falls, Ontario.. An error has occurred while trying to update your details. After hitting bottom in the late 1970s, he managed to pull himself up. I loved the Bruins and the city. Ace Bailey. The sedate life of an amateur golfer is a long way from when he was spinning out of control with a combination of drugs, alcohol and far too much disposable income. Among his clients are former Bruins Bobby Orr and Cam Neely. Phil said, 'What a shame, I'm stuck here.' [They've] got some great players. In the summer of 1972, Sanderson signed what was then the richest contract in professional sports history. Sandersons ridiculously opulent lifestyle was driven in part by watching his own father work for $26 a week sweeping floors, before becoming a machinist. But Sanderson says its important to consider the circumstances from which many athletes have come. The cold and rain made the night miserable, but I knew I just needed a place where I could close my eyes and drift away from my problems for a few hours. In a clubhouse filled with superstars and characters, Sanderson stood out on a team ruled by Harry Sinden, an old-school hockey practitioner despite being one of the youngest head coaches in the league. 2023 Toronto Sun, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.