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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Sept 21--16 players/Bill Derlago/Leafs


Leafs lose to Flyers, Gnashing of teeth starts

Now 1-1 in the pre-season but I can just hear the fans on sports radio here down on the Leafs already. Anyhow,

The Maple Leafs will unveil their third jersey at the regular season opener on Oct. 6. The re-designed alternate (pictured below) will look very much like the jersey the club wore at Maple Leaf Gardens on May 2, 1967 - the night it last hoisted the Stanley Cup. The 12-point maple leaf is identical to that worn by the team from the start of the 1967 playoffs to the end of the 1969-70 season. The striping is also identical to the '67-'70 version, though larger on both the jersey-bottom and sleeve

caption



16 players share today as their birthday.
One of the hardest things in trying to keep this "project" going is trying to remember if I have any autographed items. It's easy to find out the birthdate and list of any cards. Now it's up to me to remember what I have and how I filed it. I had started to put every card of the player together in sheets. Then, I changed my mind and did by year. Of course, now I have to check both as it's still being sorted-the card could be lost in transition. Today, I thought I had Matti Hagman. I checked and I don't but I remember now it was Jaroslav Pouzar. I knew I had autographs of an Oiler who was European with not many cards. From my previous posts, it is fairly evident a lot of my stuff was obtained in the 80's. There was OPC and there was Topps. Maybe some team issued sets. But not a lot of choice. Magazines (eg The Hockey News) and newspaper clippings were other options. My little custom index cards. I once saw a kid getting Wayne Gretzky's autograph--on his arm. Could have been one more for me. Drats.

From Aug 25
Bill Derlago


Selected by Vancouver Canucks round 1 #4 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft


A long NHL career was predicted for the talented centreman when the Vancouver Canucks picked him up 4th overall in the 1978 Amateur Draft. He hit the ice amidst expectations that he would do unto the Canucks as he had done unto the Wheat Kings.
But a knee ligament injury early in his first campaign threw a wrench into his career aspirations. It wasn't until year two that he finally got going, albeit not to a high enough pitch to satisfy the powers of Canuck-land. Derlago was dispatched, along with Rick Vaive, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in February 1980.
But despite Derlago's steady output over his five-plus seasons with the club, questions about his desire and self-discipline were raised. He avoided all of the exercise regimes and extra practices that might have raised his game to that height. He went overseas to play in Italy for one season before hanging up his blades in 1988.
Derlago currently resides in Concord, Ontario, and operates a Chrysler dealership

Bill Derlago
Seven View Chrysler
2685 Hwy 7
Concord, ON L4K 1V8
Canada


CAREER NHL STATISTICS
YearsTeamsGPGATPPIM
1978-1987VAN, TOR, BOS, WIN, QUE555189227416247
CAREER NHL PLAYOFF STATISTICS
YearsTeamsGPGATPPIM
1980-1986Toronto, Winnipeg135058



Got these black sharpie signed cards IP at a Leaf Alumni function. I also crossed paths with him at the 2000 NHL All-Star dinner in Toronto. I was working the doors at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where it was held. After the dinner was over, he was leaving with some friends feeling pretty "happy". He came over and shook my hand and thanked me for putting on a wonderful event. Atta boy, Billy D.

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