Where Are They Now #3: Tommy Soderstrom

While my "Where Are They Now" posts get no love, I'll continue to post them because quite frankly, I enjoy doing them!

As a kid Tommy Soderstrom was one of my favourite goalies. I liked his style, his weird equipment and that he put no tape on his stick blade!

Early in his career he found great success in Sweden and in international competition, he was even compared to Pelle Lindburgh. The Flyers lured him to North America in 1992 and he responded with a career high five shutouts in 44 games with a weak Phili team.

For the rest of his NHL career he struggled with heart problems, going under the knife five times. All of those times he returned to his team trying to find the success he had in his rookie season.

Soderstrom departed the NHL in the 1996-97 season with his last appearance; 10 seconds of relief duty with the Islanders. After five seasons in the NHL he returned to his native Sweden playing three more seasons. He retired in the 99-00 season.

I recently wrote Soderstrom in Sweden and asked him a few questions, mainly if he still played anymore and what he was up to. Soderstrom has not strapped on the pads since his retirement 10 years a goal, he gave up goaltending in 2000. Heis now the General Manager of a hockey team in Sweden, although he did not specify which one.

If anyone would like to write Tommy I will post his address below. He is a great signer and will respond quickly.

Tommy SoderstromOxelvägen 41
13832 Älta
Sweden

Where Are They Now? #2: Jim Carey

In a string of six seasons Dominik Hasek won the Vezina Trophy, award for the NHL's best goalie five times. In 1995-96 Jim Carey, otherwise known as the "Net Detective" was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's premiere goalie, largely in part to his nine shutouts and 2.26 goals against average in 71 games.

Jim Carey was drafted 32nd overall by the Washington Capitals in the 1992 NHL entry draft, the highest goalie drafted. The move made little sense at the time as the Caps had two excellent young goalie prospects in Byron Dafoe and Olaf Kolzig.

Carey preformed well in his first pro season with the Portland Pirates of the AHL winning Rookie of the Year honors. The award opened eye's in the organization and Carey saw time in the Caps net for the lockout shortened season playing in 28 games.

As mentioned above, Carey played fantastic in the 1995-96 season and won the Vezina Trophy. From that point on, things did not Carey's way and due to poor play he was traded to the lowly Bruins just a year after winning the Vezina Trophy.

For the next two seasons Carey bounced back and forth between the minors and the NHL, never able to spend significant time with any team. He last saw NHL action in the 1998-99 season with the St.Louis Blues and then hung up the pads for good.

Since then Carey has disappeared from existence and for years I've tried to track him through the Internet. A few years ago I swear I found an article linking him to being an alumni member of a men's league tournament but I could not 100% verify this.

In the summer of 2010 I reached out to collectors in hopes of tracking down Carey. I was linked to his wikipedia page to see that he is now CEO/President of OptiMED Billing Solutions Inc. a medical company that is based in Boston and Sarasota.

Upon checking the OptiMED website I confirmed that is was in fact Jim Carey, although now he goes by James.

In September I sent Carey a letter and some cards to have signed but my letter was later returned as "un-claimed". Another collector sent him an email asking him if we could set up a paid private signing with no response. I've heard of collectors spotting him, asking for an autograph and having him deny that he ever played in the NHL. I have also heard that he was inducted into the Portland Pirates Hall of Fame a few years back and signed plenty of autographs at the induction ceremony. I call it the curious case of Jim Carey as I have heard plenty of stories over the years. Luckily, I managed to pick up a nice Carey autographed card a few years back through a trade.

Some people find success in their life and then lose it, only to spend the rest of their life trying to get it back. In my opinion, Carey although proud of his accomplishment's in hockey, has moved on with his life into a successful business professional.

Where Are They Now? #1: Geoff Sanderson

In the mid 90's Geoff Sanderson was a force for a very weak Hartford Whalers team. He had four 30+ goal seasons for the Whale from 1992-1997 and only missed out on 30 in a five year span due to the lockout shortened season.

When the Whalers moved from Hartford to Carolina and became the Hurricanes, Sanderson's scoring dried up and he was traded twice in the 1997-98 season. With two weak seasons in Buffalo, Sanderson looked washed up and could only manage 12 and 13 goal seasons.

The Columbus Blue Jackets emerged into the NHL and Sanderson was given one last chance at being an NHL regular. He responded with his first 30 goal season in years and followed it up with another 30+ goal season in 2002-03. Sanderson would then spend the rest of his career bouncing around the NHL and playing for four different clubs including a stint in Switzerland during the 2004-05 lockout.

Sanderson played is last game with the Edmonton Oilers 2007-08 and the speedy forward never officially retired but has not played hockey since.

I did some research and I found out that Sanderson got a job this season with the New York Islanders in player development. He also does work with their affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League.

Sanderson was a speedy forward who played in 1104 NHL games and netted 355 goals. He had the ability to be a 30+ goal scorer year in and year out, but could not string together more then two 30+ goal seasons in a row. The one assest Sanderson did have was his speed and it kept his career going while he lost his offensive game.

If anyone would like to write Sanderson for an autograph you can try in care of the New York Islanders as I recently saw a success from him. Beware, his autograph is not pretty and you might want to send a sharpie has he signed in ball point pen.