Looking to the "North Stars" As the "Sands" of Time Go On, This Piece Puts Me Over 20%

[IrbeFan4Life]

It's been a month or so since my last newest piece's arrival, but here we are, back again for the next. Don't forget to like Bruce C. Goaltending Museum on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Also note that this piece is the tipping point as we are now at officially over 20% of all NHL goalies to have ever played in the league in a regular season or playoff game.

Born on April 6, 1963 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Mike Sands was a good junior goalie, though struggled to find victories with Sudbury in the OHL. Despite the adversity that would have been expected to come from posting a GAA over 5.00 in each of his seasons with Sudbury, Sands was still drafted 31st overall by the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. In his final year of juniors, Sands was chosen to play on the Canadian National Junior Team. He became the starter for the squad, beating out future Cup Winner, Mike Vernon for that role. He led Team Canada to a bronze medal that year. The following season, he played twenty games with Salt Lake in the CHL prior to joining the North Stars in 1984-85. He earned his first NHL start very early on into that season, on October 20, 1984 vs Montreal. Sands stopped 30 of 34 shots against in his team's 4-2 loss. Three days later he got his second start, however, after surrendering four goals on 24 shots, he was replaced by Don Beaupre between the pipes. He got one additional start on March 1, 1985 v Detroit, however, posted a loss once more. Sands played the majority of the season with Springfield of the AHL, however, and he posted a career best 23 wins for himself over all leagues spanning in his entire career. He did not see NHL action again until the 1986-87 season when he appeared in an additional three NHL games, again, unable to record a win. In 1987-88, Sands had hoped to get the full-time back-up position on the squad, however, after Minnesota assigned him to Baltimore, he appeared in four games with the AHL squad before refusing to report to the team. This prompted the North Stars to suspend and then officially release him in March of 1988. Afterwards, he was signed and played three games with Kalamazoo in the IHL. He played one additional year with the Canadian National Team in 1988-89 before retiring from play at the age of 26. He rejoined the NHL in 2000-01 as a Scout with Calgary and held that position until 2009-10. From 2013-14 to present, Sands has been a Scout with Arizona/Phoenix.

In his career, Sands appeared in 6 NHL games, recording an 0-5-0 record with a 5.17GAA, and a 0.865% save average. He appeared in zero playoff games.

What you are looking at right now is a 1987-88 pre-season/possible bench worn jersey used by Mike Sands while still affiliated with the North Stars. Game wear is very, very light and comprises of some gatorade stains by the crest and neck area, as well as light rusting in the fight strap.

Acquired from: David Martel of Global Vintage Sports, jersey verified by Milton Byron

Dates of Game Use: Unknown

Photomatched: No

[creasecollector]

Awesome jersey, congrats on the milestone!

[Irbe3201]

Another nice addition. Congrats on 20%!

[IrbeFan4Life]

Thanks for the comments!

So apparently there have been some concerns raised about the sweater by some North Stars experts regarding the twill of the numbers, so the piece is being further researched.

[creasecollector]

Thanks for the comments!

So apparently there have been some concerns raised about the sweater by some North Stars experts regarding the twill of the numbers, so the piece is being further researched.

Hoping everything is all good with this sweater.