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Blazing The Way - Sept. 25, 2017 – Matt Larkin
EVERYTHING IS THE same for Geoff Sanderson in many ways, even though he’s 45 and his NHL career ended nine years ago. And in other ways, everything couldn’t be more different.
He still spends hour after hour working on his shot, honing his accuracy. He still spends his winters at the rink. He still goes to work every day with Brendan Morrison, an old Vancouver Canucks teammate.
But when Sanderson fires shot after shot, it’s no longer hockey pucks. He’s practising archery, getting ready for the month of September, which he blocks off to do nothing but hunt elk. He’s gotten so good that he believes he’s more accurate with a bow than a rifle. He puts the same amount of painstaking work into this passion that he did into his hockey career. He’s an avid outdoorsman who also does a lot of fishing, mainly in the summer. The love of the wilderness comes naturally for the only NHL player who was born and raised in the Northwest Territories.
And while he’s still going to the arena, it’s obviously no longer as a player. Instead, he’s cheering on his three sons – Ben, Jake and Sawyer. Ben, the oldest, and Jake are draftees of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. It’s familiar territory for Sanderson, who was a standout scorer for the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. His blinding speed helped the Broncos win the 1989 Memorial Cup. Now he’s passing on his knowledge to his sons and even doing some skills coaching for Hockey Canada. Youth hockey players devote more time to skill development these days than ever, and Sanderson is equipped with the tools to help. He twice crested 40 goals with the Hartford Whalers and scored 30 or more six times in 17 NHL seasons, including twice with the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets.
ALL I KNEW WAS HOW TO PLAY HOCKEY, HOW TO PREPARE TO PLAY HOCKEY – GEOFF SANDERSON
From The THN Archive: Adam's Eve
The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Sanderson started down the NHL coaching route immediately when his playing days ended, working in player development with the New York Islanders, but he left after two seasons. He enjoyed the job but found the lifestyle far too similar to that of his playing career. He was constantly on the road, living in hotels, missing out on watching his sons grow up alongside his wife, Ellen. He wanted to spend that time with his family. They moved from Whitefish, Mont., to Calgary to expose the Sanderson boys not just to hockey, which they yearned to play at a high level, but also to the Canadian school system.
Sanderson hasn’t ruled out a return to the game in a more official capacity once his sons age out of their playing days. He’s undecided on whether that would entail coaching or going the front office route, though he’s more experienced in the former so far. For now, though, he works in Calgary as an almost-regular citizen. He and Morrison, who played together on the Canucks in 2003- 04, saw an opportunity in 2012, when oil prices were soaring in Alberta. They spent months brainstorming a business and came up with Breakaway Matting, a company that sells custom matting to line the surfaces of oil rigs. They found a way to break into a lucrative field without years of education. “What it came down to is, in the oil and gas industry out in the field, the matting is the least technical product that drilling companies or producers use,” Sanderson said. “There’s no technical expertise. It’s basically a relationship business. Brendan and I leveraged some of the alumni around the city and some of the guys we had access to in the industry because we’re ex-hockey players, and it helped grow the company.”
Business boomed for a couple years until commodity prices collapsed, which caused a major downturn in Alberta. Still, Breakaway Matting weathered the economic storm and is starting to thrive again. The stakes aren’t as high for guys like Morrison and Sanderson as they would be for people who never earned NHL salaries, of course, but it’s been a thrilling as well as humbling experience. “It’s exciting learning something different,” Sanderson said. “You go through your whole life, and all I knew was how to play hockey, how to prepare to play hockey, how to work out in the summer. And with the move to Calgary, there was a lot of opportunity to get involved in something other than hockey.”
It’s too early to know if Breakaway Matting is a long-term venture or merely a pet project. It’s a safe bet it won’t be his last, though. Sanderson is a sponge, soaking up whatever new experience he can find, dividing his time between the ice, the oil rigs and the woods of Alberta. Whatever he does next, odds are it’ll be adventurous.
Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski Invited To Team USA Olympic Camp
The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets" target="_blank">Columbus Blue Jackets</a>' defensemen Zach Werenski has been officially invited to the Team USA Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp.
Blue Jackets Sign Brendan Smith To A PTO
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed long time veteran Brendan Smith to a PTO today.
Former Blue Jackets Forward Sergei Fedorov's Number To Be Retired By Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings have announced that former CBJ forward Sergei Fedorov''s #91 will be <a href="https://www.nhl.com/redwings/team/91">retired by the Wings</a>. The ceremony will be held on January 12, 2026.
Columbus Blue Jackets' Quarter Century Mount Rushmore
Recently, Bleacher Report released their version of '<a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25228837-every-nhl-teams-mount-rushmore-quarter-century">Every NHL Team's Mount Rushmore of the Quarter Century</a>,' and it got me thinking about who Jason Newland and I would put on the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/">Columbus Blue Jackets</a>' Mount Rushmore.