Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who helped transform the culture of the professional athlete in the 1970s era. He set up the overtime goal scored by Boston Bruins teammate Bobby Orr that clinched the 1970 Stanley Cup Final, widely considered to be the greatest goal in National Hockey League history. Over 13 NHL seasons he amassed 202 goals, 250 assists, 911 penalty minutes and a plus-141 rating in 598 games with five teams.
For a six-month period, Sanderson was the highest-paid athlete in sports history. On August 4, 1972, he left the Bruins to sign a $2.625-million deal with the Philadelphia Blazers of the rival World Hockey Association. However, Sanderson sustained a back injury three weeks into the 1972–73 season, and he played only eight games with the team before the two sides agreed to a $1-million buyout of his contract.
A master of the menacing sweep check, which would soon become his trademark, Sanderson scored his 32nd career short-handed goal in the 1975-76 campaign to surpass Toronto Maple Leafs center Dave Keon as the all-time league leader. He owned the record for eight seasons. Nearly half a century after his last Bruins appearance, Sanderson still owns the team record for most career shorthanded goals (six) in the playoffs, a mark that he shares with Ed Westfall, a longtime teammate. 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.
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Sanderson was the son of Canadian Army Private Harold A. Sanderson, and Caroline Hall Gillespie of Dysart, Scotland. His older sister Karen was born in 1944 while their father was serving in France. In his early youth, Sanderson took to hockey, skating countless hours on a scaled-down version of an NHL rink, which his father built and maintained while his mother served hot chocolate during breaks in the action. The rink spanned two backyards of small cookie-cutter houses on lots provided at modest prices to servicemen such as Harold upon their return home.
Sanderson played junior hockey in his hometown with the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association. His time with the Flyers saw him being named to the Second All-Star Team in 1965–66, to the First All-Star Team in 1966–67 and winning the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the top scorer in the OHA also in 1966–67. In 1964–65, Sanderson helped the Flyers reach the Memorial Cup Final where they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings in five games. After spending four years in the OHA, Sanderson turned pro by signing with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League in 1965–66, and made his professional debut that season by playing two games with the Bruins. Sanderson also played two games in the CPHL with the Oklahoma City Blazers in 1965–66, recording one goal. During the postseason he recorded 4 assists helping the team win the Adams Cup.
After brief stints with the Bruins in the two previous seasons, Sanderson earned a permanent roster spot in the 1967–68 campaign. The 21-year-old scored 24 goals and 49 points in 71 games. He also had 98 penalty minutes, establishing himself as something of a "tough guy". 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 remains the only time in Bruins history that they had consecutive Calder winners.
Although Sanderson had been an elite scorer in junior hockey, the Bruins already boasted the most potent offense in hockey when he joined the club. Instead, head coach Harry Sinden had a different vision for him, one as a valuable multi-purpose center who could neutralize the top center men in the league, dominate the face-off dot, help kill penalties at a high rate, unnerve opponents with physical if not chippy play and contribute at the offensive end on a regular basis. Sanderson would become a fixture on the third line, often paired with left wing Wayne Carleton or Don Marcotte and right wing Ed Westfall throughout his Bruins career. In particular, Westfall and Sanderson developed an uncommon chemistry that allowed them to become one of the most accomplished penalty-killing tandems in league history. Sanderson also became one of the first NHL centers to focus on and excel in winning faceoffs.
During his second season with the Bruins in 1968–69 Sanderson appeared in 61 games scoring 26 and 22 against finishing with 48 points one less than the year prior. During a game vs. the Toronto Maples Leafs on March 16, 1969, Sanderson had his best individual game performance where he scored a hatrick and 3 assists for a 6-point game in a Bruins 11–3 victory. During the postseason Sanderson scored 8 goals and 2 assists in 9 games however the Bruins were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.
Due to an injury Sanderson only appeared in 50 games for the Bruins during the 1969-70 season, where he scored 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists). During the postseason Sanderson appeared in all 14 playoff games scoring 5 goals and 4 assists. After their series victory over the Rangers followed by a sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1969–70 playoffs, the Bruins faced the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final. With the Bruins ahead in the series 3–0, game four went into overtime with the teams deadlocked at 3-all. 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. His short pass found its way to Orr, who fired a short wrist shot past goaltender Glenn Hall before he went airborne, clinching the first Bruins Stanley Cup in 29 years. Following the victory Sanderson gave his Stanley Cup ring to his father for filling a promise he made to him when he was 12 years old.
In 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the league, fans voted the so-called Flying Goal as the greatest in its history. It also turned out to be the signature moment for both players in their careers.
In 1970-71, Sanderson scored a NHL career best 29 goals along with 34 assists, helping the Bruins set records for most victories (57) and points (121). The Bruins went on to win the Prince of Wales Trophy as East Division regular season champions, however they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. Following a disappointing end to the previous season the Bruins finished with the leagues best record the following year as Sanderson scored 25 goals and 33 assists in 78 games. On January 16, 1972, he scored 3 goals and 2 assists in a Bruins 9–2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. During the postseason Sanderson appeared in 11 games scoring 1 goals and 1 assist as the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers to win their second Stanley Cup in 3 years.
Sanderson averaged more than 24 goals over his first five seasons, the best of which was the 1970-71 campaign, when he had career highs of 29 goals, 63 points and a plus-39 rating in 71 games. The Bruins captured consecutive East Division titles in the 1970–71 and 1971–72 seasons, and won the Stanley Cup in 1971–72 against the New York Rangers, its second in three seasons.
Philadelphia Blazers (1972–1973)
In the summer of 1972, Sanderson signed what was then the richest contract in professional sports history. The Philadelphia Blazers of the new World Hockey Association signed Sanderson to a five-year, $2.65 million contract that made him the highest-paid pro athlete in the world at the time. He received $600,000 in cash as part of the agreement, an offer that the Bruins declined to match. The remainder of the money was to be spread over 10 years.
On November 1, in a game at Cleveland, Sanderson suffered a back injury when he slipped on a piece of debris on the ice. When he was fit to return weeks later, club management insisted that he remain inactive. 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. Sanderson only appeared in 8 total games for the Blazers scoring 3 goals and 3 assists.