Editor’s Note: May 10 marks mark the 50th anniversary of Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr’s iconic, 1970 Stanley Cup Final-clinching goal against the St. Louis Blues. In the lead up to the anniversary, NESN.com is remembering that team and Orr’s goal, which will include NESN’s airing of the “1970 Stanley Cup Playoff Rewind” on Saturday, May 9, at 8 p.m. ET. On May 10, NHL Network will air “The 1970 Bruins: Big Bad & Bobby” a documentary celebrating that team. Click here for more Bruins coverage.
Everyone knows about Bobby Orr’s famous Mother’s Day goal that gave the Boston Bruins a Stanley Cup championship in 1970.
But Derek Sanderson played a big role in making it happen.
Sanderson, as you may recall, was the one who passed Orr the puck that led to the defenseman going airborne after finding twine in overtime of Game 4 against the St. Louis Blues.
The former NHLer held a town hall Tuesday to talk all things Bruins including what was going through his mind during that play and if he thought his pass was going to end up giving the Black and Gold and incredible memory.
“No, no. You make the play and hope it works,” he said during Tuesday’s call. “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. That puck had to land flat, but he never held it, he just redirected it, really.”
And how did you feel afterward?
“I was pumped,” Sanderson said. “I saw it hit the back of the net and I said, ‘Well, that’s it, I think.’ I never really reacted right away. It’s kind of like in the NFL, you’re waiting for a penalty flag, ‘Is everything OK?’ And it was. It was a lot of fun, an exciting moment, a great time. We just didn’t realize how popular we were at the time. The people were really good. We had great fans, the same type of fans today. We had great fans. We were lucky.”
The 50th anniversary of “The Goal” is Sunday.
A statue of Orr which stands outside TD Garden reminds Bruins fans of the goal to this day, and a raffle for a one-of-a-kind replica of “The Goal” statue currently is taking place until May 8, with the proceeds benefitting the Boston Bruins Foundation’s coronavirus relief efforts (details here).
