Was Tomas Sandström a dirty player?

[Eye of Ra]

I remember Don Cherry had Sandström as the second most dirty player ever in the NHL on his list. Was Sandström really that dirty?

 

[Bear of Bad News]

 

[Gorskyontario]

He was dirty but definitely not 2nd dirtiest ever.

 

[connellc]

Bryan Marchment was the dirtiest NHL player in the Dirtiest era. Period end of story.

 

[Staniowski]

Sandstrom was a bit dirty, yes, and a good skater, and best-known for his shooting, especially his slapshot.

Don Cherry's Top 50 dirtiest players would no doubt be filled with Swedes, Russians, and French-speaking Quebecers...and especially any of these who wear visors.

 

[Moose Head]

He was a rat, but there were rattier player then, before and since.

 

[Johnny Engine]

For some reason a passage from Stephen Cole's "Slapshots" sticks in my head.

"You hear about Ulf Samuelsson and Tomas Sandstrom being particularly vicious, but that's cultural. Is a dirty Swede spear to the thigh really worse than a manly Canadian elbow to the chops? Now if you want to find someone who will give you both while you're not looking, it's

Spoiler: Guess who he means before you check...

Chris Chelios

."

Always thought that was a funny way to put it.

 

[reckoning]

It's hard to tell from this video how close his stick was to Kjell Samuelsson's head, but he's definitely careless with it:

 

[reckoning]

This is another one where the video footage isn't great, but it looks like he's swinging at the head:

 

[reckoning]

And here's a stick to the face of Jay Wells after the whistle, going far past the point of acceptable retaliation:

 

[The Panther]

He was kind of dirty, yes, but he was about 15th in the pecking order for that distinction in his time.

Still remember Dave Brown's brutal hit on him that resulted in a suspension...


(I formerly made a ridiculous comment here, thinking that this was an infraction by Bob Probert of the Wings... I temporarily lost my mind. Order has perhaps been restored.)

 

[vikash1987]

Tomas Sandstrom definitely seemed to get mixed up in a number of “dirty” high-sticking, crosschecking and slashing penalties. (The stick-swinging incident against Kevin Haller was just brutal.) I suppose, for that reason alone, you could call him a “dirty” player who often crossed the line.

Swedish players in the ‘80s and ‘90s were still trying to shrug off the whole stereotype of being “soft.” I don’t think anyone could charge Sandstrom with being soft.

Unrelated, but how cool is it that he got to be linemates with Wayne in LA and Mario in Pittsburgh? Two of the four greatest players of all-time. Also assisted on McCarty’s Cup-winning goal in ‘97.

 

[Gorskyontario]

He was kind of dirty, yes, but he was about 15th in the pecking order for that distinction in his time.

Still remember Bob Probert's brutal hit on him that resulted in a suspension... Probert was good at sticking European player when they weren't looking:

That's Dave Brown, not Bob Probert.

 

[Gorskyontario]

Swedish players in the ‘80s and ‘90s were still trying to shrug off the whole stereotype of being “soft.” I don’t think anyone could charge Sandstrom with being soft.

Don Cherry loved Thomas Steen.

 

[The Panther]

That's Dave Brown, not Bob Probert.

Thanks.

Some of my posts lately have been weirdly inaccurate.

I just want to let the forum know that I am not smoking the crack.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Don Cherry loved Thomas Steen.

He did? You have video or something of him talking good about Steen?

 

[Gorskyontario]

He did? You have video or something of him talking good about Steen?

I can't find anything on youtube but this isn't a big secret, anytime Cherry was covering the Jets in the 80s he would go out of his way to praise Steen. I grew up in Winnipeg so I saw this a lot.

When his anti euro rhetoric was much higher in the early-mid 80s, he would go as far as saying Steen was the only Swede who could play on his team.

I think he also was neutral or liked Borje Salming . Salming was pretty tough, I can't remember Cherry ever saying anything bad about him, but he didn't go out of his way to praise him like he would for Steen.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I can't find anything on youtube but this isn't a big secret, anytime Cherry was covering the Jets in the 80s he would go out of his way to praise Steen. I grew up in Winnipeg so I saw this a lot.

When his anti euro rhetoric was much higher in the early-mid 80s, he would go as far as saying Steen was the only Swede who could play on his team.

I think he also was neutral or liked Borje Salming . Salming was pretty tough, I can't remember Cherry ever saying anything bad about him, but he didn't go out of his way to praise him like he would for Steen.

And what with Steen was it that he liked?

 

[Gorskyontario]

And what with Steen was it that he liked?

He was good at both ends of the ice, clean and had balls of steel(despite not being much of a fighter), and also loyal to a fault to the Winnipeg Jets to the point where he ended his career to go play in Germany rather than play for another NHL team.





Sums up Steen in a nutshell.

 

[PistolPete]

Don Cherry loved Thomas Steen.

And Hardy Astrom

 

[reckoning]

There were European players Cherry liked: Mats Naslund, Sergei Fedorov, Saku Koivu, Zdeno Chara. But he clearly held them to a different standard and they had to do more to gain his respect than North Americans.

He disliked Sandstorm because he was a dirty player who never dropped the gloves. But Dale Hunter was the same and Cherry loved him.

 

[PistolPete]

There were European players Cherry liked: Mats Naslund, Sergei Fedorov, Saku Koivu, Zdeno Chara. But he clearly held them to a different standard and they had to do more to gain his respect than North Americans.

He disliked Sandstorm because he was a dirty player who never dropped the gloves. But Dale Hunter was the same and Cherry loved him.

Didn't he defend the Hunter hit in Turgeon?

 

[Johnny Engine]

There were European players Cherry liked: Mats Naslund, Sergei Fedorov, Saku Koivu, Zdeno Chara. But he clearly held them to a different standard and they had to do more to gain his respect than North Americans.

He disliked Sandstorm because he was a dirty player who never dropped the gloves. But Dale Hunter was the same and Cherry loved him.

I've seen some Cherry segments where he seems to have a counterintuitive affection for Robert Reichel, using him as an example of a guy who can wear a visor because he doesn't go looking for trouble, and expressing hope that he'd bust out of a scoring slump.
Not sure if this was a regular thing or if I caught him in a good mood, but it was surprising.

 

[quietbruinfan]

For some reason a passage from Stephen Cole's "Slapshots" sticks in my head.

"You hear about Ulf Samuelsson and Tomas Sandstrom being particularly vicious, but that's cultural. Is a dirty Swede spear to the thigh really worse than a manly Canadian elbow to the chops? Now if you want to find someone who will give you both while you're not looking, it's

Spoiler: Guess who he means before you check...

Chris Chelios

."

Always thought that was a funny way to put it.

Liked the "puck"/book and that was a favorite passage. Cultural bias has always been real.

 

[Gorskyontario]

Didn't he defend the Hunter hit in Turgeon?

Not really, he said he still liked Hunter as a player more or less.