Garth Boesch was 53 years old when the 1973-74 Topps #182 (O-Pee-Chee #183) card of Derek Sanderson
Garth Boesch played for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1946-47 to 1949-50 and was well-known at the time as the only player to wear a moustache. Boesch was never immortalized on cardboard as O-Pee-Chee went into hiatus after their 1940-41 series and Parkhurst didn’t start the ball rolling again until their 1951-52 series.
The 1973-74 Topps #182 of Derek Sanderson is valued at $3.00 by Beckett Hockey Monthly
Sanderson starred with the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1963-64 to 1966-67. The team won the Memorial Cup in 1965-66, with Sanderson leading the team in scoring during the regular season with 76 points. In 1966-67, Derek’s last in junior hockey, he won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy as the OHA’s leading scorer, tallying 101 points in 47 games. It should be noted that in the Memorial Cup year, Sanderson sat out 238 minutes in penalties over just 47 regular season
games and 193 in 1966-67 while leading the league in points.
Sanderson was an immediate hit with the Boston Bruins, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1967-68. He won two Stanley Cups with the Bruins in his first six seasons in the NHL. Money drew him away in 1972 and he jumped to the World Hockey Association, playing for the Philadelphia Blazers. Derek played just eight games in the WHA before returning to the Bruins to finish out the 1972-73 season.
Things went downhill quickly for Derek. He played sparingly for the Bruins, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins before hanging up the blades after the 1977-78 season.
Garth Boesch was originally property of the New York Americans. He finally played his first NHL games in 1946-47 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, instantly helping the team to a Stanley Cup victory. The team won the Cup the following two years, as well. Boesch was often paired with Bill Barilko on defense. Barilko started the same season as Garth and played one more season that him before dying tragically in a plane crash in Northern Ontario.
Andy Blair wore a moustache in the ’30s
Another good call! Another ‘fashion rebel’ from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blair played in the 1930’s. From legendsofhockey.net: Centre Andy Blair was an excellent scorer and playmaker during nine NHL seasons in the 1920s and ’30s. He was a member of a Stanley Cup team in Toronto and gained trivia fame as one of the first players to sport a moustache.
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