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Bruins’ oldest living captain, Ed Sandford, dies at age 95

By Zander Manning

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 6: A general view prior to action between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 6, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 5-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 6: A general view prior to action between the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 6, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins 5-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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On Thursday, the Boston Bruins announced that their oldest living captain, and alumnus, Ed Sandford passed away at 95-years-old.

Sandford was a member of the “Historic 100” and will be remembered by Bruins’ fans everywhere. Sandford played in Boston from 1947-1955 and in his final season with the Bruins, he was named captain upon the retirement of Milt Schmidt.

In 1951, Sandford ran a streak of five consecutive All-Star appearances, and even led all scorers in the 1953 playoffs with 11 points in the postseason.

Following his tenure in Boston, Sandford went on to play two seasons with fellow Original Six clubs Detroit and Chicago. With the Red Wings, and Blackhawks, respectively, he logged 61 games of action where he scored 12 goals, and notched nine assists to go with it.

Following his playing days, Sandford never strayed too far from the rink as he took a job as an off-ice official for the National Hockey League. He worked as the supervisor of off-ice officials, goal judge and even as the official scorer.

Sandford would also a member of the Bruins’ alumni team.

His best season on the ice came in the 1953-54 season, when he not only set a career-high in 70 games played, but he also scored 16 goals, and collected 31 assists. To top it off, he was selected to the All-Star game this year as well, and fifth-place in voting for the Lady Byng trophy.

All in all, he played 503 career NHL games where he scored 106 goals and added 145 assists to that total in the regular season.

He was also tough as nails on the ice as well averaging 35.5 PIM per season, for a total of 355 total throughout his entire 10 seasons.

Adding to this accolades, in 2001, The Hockey News, in collaboration with the Hockey Hall of Fame, awarded Sandford a retroactive Conn Smythe Trophy for the 1953 season, given that the trophy was not awarded until the 1965 season.

At this time, the cause of death is unknown, but Sandford will always be remembered by Bruins’ fans everywhere.

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