His time with the Flyers saw him being named to the Second All-Star Team in 196566, to the First All-Star Team in 196667 and winning the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the top scorer in the OHA also in 196667. He helps professional athletes invest their money as vice president of Baystate Wealth Management in Boston. It wouldnt have mattered to me if they did.. I like the Bruins. Harry Sinden had it going, there was nothing he did not think of and I never went into a game that Harry Sinden didnt give me something to think about, said Sanderson. 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. He was in traction. WebThe snooty treatment embarrassed Derek Sanderson, who had grown up poor. "It kind of sums up my problem. I didnt understand it.. "I didn't want him getting any credit," he said. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. 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. What is one story from 1970 that people might not know? WebCasey Sherman, author behind the books that became "The Finest Hours" and "Patriots Day," has written "Turk," a film about Bruins center Derek Sanderson. The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Sanderson as a free agent in 197778. 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. No, no. It's hard to believe. (approx 1 - 2 per week). 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. "With your personality you will rue the day you took this money," Adams warned him. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. He lectured about drug and alcohol awareness in schools and worked as a broadcaster in Boston. [13] It also turned out to be the signature moment for both players in their careers. They wheeled the bed out, the whole nine yards. He was a notorious partier, living in a constant haze of booze, drugs and women. Phil was on my right and he goes, 'I can't believe that.' The film's director Doug Atchison last directed Akeelah and the Bee and Class Act. Bobby Orr, always a class act and possibly the greatest hockey player of all time, repeatedly tried to steer Sanderson away from his snowball slide to hell. Your existing password has not been changed. 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. The drug mellowed him before a flight, but it made him, groggy and irritable and interfered with his performance. Read more about cookies here. Bobby ended up parallelI was amazed that that [photographer] caught it right at that moment. Do you have a favorite off-ice story from the Big, Bad Bruins era? The timing for a golf shot is the same as for a slap shot. Derek Sanderson Jeter of the new york yankees is named for the turk. An error has occurred while trying to update your details. Sandersons defensive skills, two-way play and prowess in the faceoff circle and on the penalty kill makes for a favorable comparison to Bruins first-line center Patrice Bergeron. WebTurk: Directed by John Curran. with another source. Sanderson had only one request: He didn't want the Bruins lawyer to be in the room. [Vancouver Canucks forward] Bobby Lalonde was 5-foot-4. Playing with the Bruins in 1967-68, he scored 24 goals with 25 assists and won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. ", "I got up and left," Sanderson said. Did you know the pass to Orr was going to work out? "Bobby and I talked for a while, and then when I went to leave I walked straight into the wall. I loved the feeling," he said. After hitting bottom in the late 1970s, he managed to pull himself up. He claims a counsellor at Hotel Dieu, a rehab center in St. Catharines, Ontario, caught him at just the right time. However, you may want to comfirm this More Sanderson Pages. I was intimidated by it. When did Derek Sanderson retire? Don't miss out - sign up for our newsletters! (He didnt.) Then it was over pretty quickly. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. While his rights reverted to the Bruins, they traded him at the end of the season to the New York Rangers. We didn't recognize that password reset code. He cares that much about his players, he never called us by our nicknames. He broke to the net on a give-and-go and (Blues defenseman) Jean Guy Talbot should never have come to me. "The more I had, the more temptations there were, and the less I turned them down. I also remember the ad Sandersons signature play was the sweep check, a wildly successful defensive dodge that created turnovers and reduced the number of body blows he absorbed in a game. This season, home is where the hockey is. ", "Falling Down: The greatest downfalls in Canadian sports history", "20 Questions: Ex-NHLer Derek Sanderson on running the town and sleeping on its benches", "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Derek Sanderson", "The Ever Elusive, Always Inscrutable And Still Incomparable Bobby Orr", "Boston Sports Museum's 12th annual 'The Tradition', "A movie about a Bruins legend is in the works", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Derek_Sanderson&oldid=1150859446, Oklahoma City Blazers (19651977) players, Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Retired as the NHL career leader in shorthanded goals (currently 11th all time), Selected to the OHA-Jr. First All-Star Team. WebDerek Michael Turk Sanderson (June 16, 1946-) served up the pass to Bobby Orr in the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals against the St. Louis Blues that Orr buried past Jacques Plante to help the Bruins capture their first Stanley Cup championship in 29 years. He is now managing editor of Golf & Leisure Cape Cod magazine and has written for a variety of other publications, including Sports Illustrated, the Boston Globe, Yankee magazine and Cape Cod Life. A great hockey town. Sanderson fielded inquiries in a Q&A format. Its amazing that Sanderson didnt die. [4] In 196465, Sanderson helped the Flyers reach the Memorial Cup finals where they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings[5] in five games. But he says he was embarrassed by it and almost turned it down. "The clothes I was wearingthe only clothes I hadwerent appropriate for a miserable New York night., He continues, "I trudged over to Central Park. With the contract offer in hand, he went to see Bruins owner Weston Adams, Sr. Adams asked why he was there when he had the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse. It remains the only time in Bruins history that they had consecutive Calder Trophy winners.[8]. As a promotion, the club had given each patron in attendance a souvenir orange puck. See the website www.docgiff.com for more. His long-time teammate and friend, Bobby Orr, checked him into rehab. WebPlot: What's the story about? Cosmopolitan magazine named him one of America's 10 sexiest men. I never thought of what to say in those moments. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4. Did Billy Graham speak to Marilyn Monroe about Jesus? So why is Sanderson alive today? His third autobiography came out in October, and it's the first that tells the entire story. Phil might have been a little upset, said Sanderson. The referees were obliged to cancel the game. Sanderson asked the Bruins for an $80,000 contract. Phil [Esposito] might have been a little upset. He returned to the Bruins, but was traded to the Rangers in 1974. What would it be like to be the highest paid athlete in the world, the toast of Boston, the winner of two Stanley Cups, the rich devil-may-care playboy? Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario, he played his junior hockey for the N.F. I used to watch the Big Bad Bruins on my grandparents television set in Hyannis growing up, Sherman said. But Sandersons story didnt end in financial tragedy. [Blues defenseman] Jean-Guy Talbot should never have come to meif you're the defenseman, you're not gonna go behind the net. He grudgingly acceded to The Turks request to unlock the front door of a burgundy sedan so he could size up the front seat. That was it. He actually cut with a saw and sawed off his shin pads because the normal ones wouldn't fit him. He took his first drink at 7 when an uncle gave him a beer at Christmas. He paid for his care in detox centers only to see him walk away from them multiple times. The doctor then advised Scotch, Dewars White Label. According to a story in the Toronto Star by Ellie Tesher on March 21, 1982, the couple separated soon thereafter. The remainder of the money was to be spread over 10 years. WebDerek Sanderson was a product of his times with a nickname to match. I didn't think I was special or different. He was terrified of flying so the Bruins sent him to a psychiatrist who made two disastrous errors. The eccentric center, the winner of the 1967 Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie, became one of the most beloved athletes in the city's sports lore. It was gang tactics most of the time. [6] After spending four years in the OHA, Sanderson turned pro by signing with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League in 196566, and made his professional debut that season by playing two games with the Bruins. Enter your email address to get a new one. He wore blue jeans and a matching jean jacket over an old sweater, with cowboy boots. When you don't have an ending, you can't write a book. Negative publicity over some of the club's less than reputable patrons led to problems and eventually Sanderson had to get out of what went from a "goldmine" to a money-losing venture.[17]. "I had no money and no place to sleep, writes Sanderson of arriving in NYC. "I never had an ending [before]," Sanderson says when asked why he wrote the most recent book. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. The game-winning play was a give-and-go pass from Sanderson to Orr in the slot and Blues Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall never had a chance. "I have a wonderful wife and two great sons. "When you're young and making $40 or $50 million, you don't know what to do with it," he says. I was interested in his story as I had attended the same school, lived on the same street and watched Sanderson as he started his hockey career with the Niagara Falls Flyers. This is not TURK, the movie. When you come to a game and you think you are prepared but you are not unless someone gives you something specific like, This is what we are going to do tonight. . Sanderson was a maestro in the faceoff circle and was, along with sidekick Eddie the Shadow Westfall, one of the NHLs premier penalty killers. Get us past the opening and I can double you back and make it a defensive battle and eventually you're gonna win because we were that much better. There is not a finer, smarter hockey man in the history of the game. WebTurk Becomes a Blazer by Frank Bertucci The Hockey Spectator August 1972 It was this city's biggest signing since 1776. He returned to the Bruins in the NHL and was traded to the New York Rangers, where he continued to live lavishly. 'Crossing the Line: The Outrageous Story of a Hockey Original. Everybody likes to say it was a foregone conclusion. WebIn 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 e track upcoming movies through all stages of film production. Years earlier, the hockey star had given power of attorney to the lawyer, a long-time family friend. That something was a couple shots of Scotch, until a couple shots was no longer enough. In 1965 Turk led his team to the Memorial Cup, symbol of junior hockey supremacy in Canada and in 1967 he was the recipient of the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the OHLs leading scorer.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_3',823,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thehockeywriters_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Instinctively, Derek always understood the value of the big stage. In 1966, the Boston Bruins management, in the middle of a cellar-dwelling season, decided to arrange a game in the Boston Garden between the Sanderson-led Niagara Falls Flyers and the Bobby Orr-led Oshawa Generals to showcase their up and coming talent. This takes you through the rollercoaster ride that's been my life." Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Photo Credits, Golf a Constant for Once Flamboyant Derek Sanderson. "I needed an answer to what was going on. [Patrice] Bergeron has a great pair of hands, he's as good as anybody in the game two ways, up and down. The first thing he did was purchase a burgundy Rolls Royce car and fox-fur coat. I said, 'I never thought of that. [22] In September 2013, Sanderson received the Hockey Legacy Award from The Sports Museum at TD Garden.[23]. 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Derek "Turk" Sanderson is a talented but troubled member of the Stanley Cup-winning Bruins in the 1970s. Bobby wasn't there, he wouldn't do something like that. Before long, pucks were raining down and Captain Derek had to beat a hasty retreat to the dressing room to save his skin. Sanderson turned to therapy for a fruitless solution that included taking Valium. "I liked life. Who did I think I was at 24 [to be writing an autobiography]?". got the girl and who portrayed a charactor called "The Turk" from While there, his clients often asked him, with a bit of concern in their voices, if he picked the stocks. ", Orr was among those who helped him get sober and rebound from losing millions in bad investments. The player Bruins fans called Turk was young, brash, outspoken with movie-star looks and tuned into the was playing for the Bruins. I had a friend tell me once, 'Derek, hanging out with you is like being in a movie. Brash, cocky and flamboyant, he dressed in expensive suits, drove a silver Rolls Royce, wore a mink coat and sat on Johnny Carson's couch. The Rolls-Royce dealer, wearing a three-piece suit, sniffed at his presence, folded up the newspaper he was reading and got up from his desk. After being traded from the Bruins - with whom he won Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972 - to the New York Rangers, he partnered with "Broadway" Joe Namath in a bar called "Bachelors III." We had great fans. Booze and drugs send Sandersons life Ace Bailey. It was widely speculated that it had hoped to prod Sanderson to bolt the team and void his lucrative deal but his contract was bought out for $800,000 after the season.[16]. He sobered up, got married and had two sons. Eddie and I got a lot of kudos for being penalty killersthey were tremendously talented people, they just never get enough credit. He told clients about the lessons hes learned, about how lonely he felt surrounded by a world he purchased. There are 9,369 other movies coming out on the same date, including The Rosie Project, Bad Boys 4 and Praise This. Sherman, who spent time with Sanderson during the four months he worked on the script, said he was a young fan of Sandersons. While the doctor took him off the Valium, Sanderson still needed something to calm his nerves before a flight. Posted by Brooklynite on January 20, 2012 at 09:07 PM. The scouts and the fans took note. You could trust him. I saw it hit the back of the net and I said, 'Well, that's it, I think.' But Harry Sinden, there was nothing he did not think of. I didn't think a team could come out that hard every time. You cant buy friends, you cant buy respect, you cant buy talent, he says. [11] Named by Cosmopolitan as one of the sexiest men in America, he was the subject of gossip columns, a frequent guest on television talk shows.[12]. [16] By his estimate, he survived 10 hip surgeries, prostate cancer and two heart attacks. I was anonymous for the first time in my life. Donny Awrey made a great play to keep it in or they would have broken out earlier. When youre a defenseman you are not going to go behind the net but he reached in and that was all I needed.. What do you remember from the clinching game? Sanderson did know how to grab a headline. " Hes also a prostate cancer survivor. Our story Email Us Call Us: 248.387.9826, USA TODAY • L.A. Times • CBS Detroit • Crains Detroit Business • Corp Magazine. Dereks off-ice troubles with alcohol and drugs were chipping away at his on-ice talents. Customize your Sportsnet lineup for the latest news from your favourite leagues and teams. Catherines Ontario, and he has been sober ever since. Sorry we could not verify that email address. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. I was just a fan when the guys did that one, when they brought Esposito out of the hospital room. In 1977, Sandersons attorney informed him that hed lost everything. He's got complete stick controlwhen you're coming into forecheck somebody and they go left to right, no, go right at them and drop your stick. I cant stay awake long enough to spend that much money.. I grabbed a discarded New York Times and stretched out on a damp bench, pulling the newspaper over me like a blanket to keep dry and as warm as possible.". [14]. As was the case in St. Louis, the front office grew impatient with his personal and health issues and released him after the season. In 1965 Turk led his team to the Memorial Cup, symbol of junior hockey supremacy in 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. And surprisingly [the lesser known players] are really playing really well. 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. Sanderson went to the bank to get a cashiers cheque Casey Sherman, one of the Boston-based authors behind the books that later became The Finest Hours and Patriots Day, has completed a script and is set to produce Turk, a film about Bruins center Derek Sanderson. Tweet But Harry came to me at the end of the game (regulation) and said, Listen, usually these things end quickly and the only chance theyve got is if it ends quickly., I sat beside Phil and he goes, I cant believe that. I said, What are you going to do? . Multiple events lead to Sandersons downfall. Well give you the latest news when it becomes available, or feel free to add some more selections to My Favourites. I had a reason to turn my life around," he says. Get a hold of Harry and write a book. Forty seconds into the extra period, Sanderson controlled the puck behind the Blues goal line, at which point defenseman Bobby Orr broke in from near the blue line. 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. He started me and I sat beside Phil. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. But I realized that I needed help. The rise, fall, and redemption of a Stanley Cup-winning former Boston Bruins player is set to receive the big-screen treatment. WebHe was terrified of flying so the Bruins sent him to a psychiatrist who made two disastrous errors. We were really deep. In April 1979, Sanderson married Rhonda Rapport, a former Playboy Bunny from Chicago. 1970 and 1972 were, but for the man they called "Turk," the first one had How he walked into a Rolls-Royce dealership and pulled out in a dream. We had a great team of guys that cared about each other and we had a rule that no one would be in a fight alone. We just didn't realize how popular we were at the time. You make the play and hope it works. Ed Burns, best known for The Brothers McMullen, Saving Private Ryan and guest spots on Entourage, offered up That's goodthere was nobody behind him but St. Louis Blues players. Its easy for sports fans today to find amusement in the financial train wrecks that many athletes suffer. Not that it was a fluke, but he did everything right, took it to another planet. In case you had an injury or a bad game. I always think of Picard tripping him. Copyright 1999-2020 Boston Professional Hockey Association, Inc. and the National Hockey League. The game is meant to be played with 16 guys - 10 forwards, three lines and an extra; two D pairs and an extra. On Thursday, August 3, Derek Sanderson Slowly, he lost the magic and for several years after he left hockey, he struggled with those addictions. He blew out his knee, was getting operated on. His popularity reached heartthrob and rock star status from the moment he arrived on the scene in 1966. They were great. And about how quickly the gas gauge said empty. The Calder trophy wasnt the crowning jewel in Sandersons trophy room though. The owner of the Bruins wisely cautioned him that, for someone not bred to wealth, it would ruin his life. Sindens hunch created a few grumblings on the bench but proved to be the right move. They were the key to the enthusiasm. I watched him, I think it was his first training camp. Money was new and scary for him, he says. the 60's and 70's in the Boston area. WebTurk Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed Turk, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup winner who set up the Experience Rogers Hometown Hockey. Among his clients are former Bruins Bobby Orr and Cam Neely. Hes dedicated to making sure they do not lose the millions of dollars that fell through his hands. After Sanderson and the Blazers parted ways, he returned to the Bruins for two seasons but suited up for only 54 games. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. This made Turk groggy. [4] Sanderson also played two games in the CPHL with the Oklahoma City Blazers in 196566, recording one goal.