Picnic over for Derek
BOSTON (CP) – Boston Bruins, say local oddsmakers, will knock New York Rangers out of the National Hockey League playoffs in five games
They open their East Division quarter-final series tonight at 7:35 p.m. EST at Boston Garden.
Ranger injuries at key positions, particularly on defence, are listed high among the reasons why the New Yorkers— heavy favorites at season's start to displace the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins as division powers—are headed for an early grave.
And then there's the reformed Turk.
Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito are still rated the explosive one-two punch for Boston, but Derek Sanderson, the prodigal son who returned from a million-dollar venture with Philadelphia Blazers of the rival World Hockey Association late in the year, is said to be the Bruins' money player.
Sanderson has mellowed somewhat since rejoining Boston after jumping to the fledgling WHA last summer for a multi-year contract estimated at about $2.7 million.
The new, quiet Sanderson, is not quite so explosive in his comments as he reflected Tuesday on what to expect of him in the playoffs—when the season really begins for the 26-year-old centre from Niagara Falls, Ont.
“Can I come up with THE performance in the playoffs?” he asked nobody in particular. “How good is Sanderson the player?
“Am I a worthy player or is it the press that built me up?”
Only time will tell, but at least one Bruin thinks he still has the stuff—Boston's executive manager, Harry Sinden, who talked the Turk into rejoining the club after Sanderson was unceremoniously asked to depart the WHA.
Sanderson admitted he missed Beantown—“Zelda's, Daisy Buchanan's, the people I know in Boston and the rest.
“I kept telling myself it can't be all that important for the kind of money they were willing to pay me. I was wrong . . .
“You think I'm surprised that I'm playing for the Stanley Cup again? It's beyond my wildest expectation. Jacques Plante (acquired from Toronto Maple Leafs in a late-season trade) thinks he's surprised. At least he was in the right league.”
He reiterated, as he often has, that he wasn't happy in Philadelphia—“the people were good but the press was negative.”—and that the “void” widened when Bernard Brown shifted Sanderson's good friend, Jim Cooper, out of the organization and took command of the operation.
“He (Brown) was a shrewd businessman,” admitted Sanderson, “But he didn't understand the game.”
Brown's reorganization also marked the end of Sanderson's career as a Blazer and initiated his return to the Bruins.
While the Bruins picked up Sanderson as late-season insurance, little expecting instant help—“they have somebody to pick on now,” he kids —and the comeback has been slow, the ace penalty killer is considered one of the keys to defence of their NHL laurels.
“I didn't really think it would be this tough,” Sanderson said, recalling the many inactive weeks at Philadelphia during which he injured his back, necessitating a stay in hospital, and the lengthy legal negotiations between the Blazers and his lawyer, Bob Woolf of Boston.
“I only weigh 178 pounds. Can you imagine what it would have been like if I weighed 220? There would be no way.”
He said there were other more lucrative offers made for his services from both the WHA and NHL, but his respect for Sinden, was the decisive factor.
“I respect Sinden,” said Sanderson of the man who coached the Bruins four years then quit suddenly after winning the Stanley Cup in 1970, to return this year as overseer of the Boston hockey operations. “He has always helped me as a hockey player.”
He admits getting sacked by the Blazers was “a blow to my ego, and that some of the Bruin players still treat him as an outsider. Nor has he been able to work his way back as a regular.
“But I understand, he says, “(Coach) Bep Guidolin told me I wouldn't take a regular shift (to start the playoffs) but that he was depending on me. “Bep told me he might use me on the wing if the situation arises. I'd play goal right now if they asked me.”
The new Turk is a refreshing change from the old. He came back to Boston “with humility, sort of hat in hand.”
Now the picnic is over.
Did not happen on 4/3/73. Had to been earlier because Sanderson played 25 games with Bruins that year.
It’s a good observation. The article was posted on 4/4/73, and typically refers to events the previous day. But it also says in the article that it’s harder than he thought and some guys hadn’t accepted him, implying he had played some games already. Strange it doesn’t specifically note how many games he had played, but to your point, I changed the headline to make it clearer. Cheers!