1975 NHL DRAFT PICK Robin Sadler Selected in first round

No. 9 overall by Montreal Canadiens

Born March 1, 1955 Position: Defense

Height: 6-3 Weight: 180

BEFORE THE DRAFT Last Team: Edmonton (WCHL)

Birthplace: Vancouver, B.C. (Canada)

Hometown: North Vancouver, British Columbia PRE-DRAFT STATISTICS Year Team League GP G A TP PIM 1973-74 Vancouver BCJHL 40 25 54 79 65 1974-75 Edmonton WCHL 66 32 61 93 103 PRE-DRAFT AWARDS AND HONORS

World Junior Championships: 1975 (silver) (unofficial tournament)

WCHL All-Star First Team: 1974-75 (Edmonton)

Miscellaneous: Played in second World Junior Championships in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba, an unofficial tournament that helped set stage for first official World Juniors in 1977. NHL CAREER Never played in NHL. NON-NHL CAREER Post-Draft Teams: Frolunda (Sweden); Nova Scotia (AHL); Innsbruck (Austria); Heerenveen (Netherlands) NON-NHL AWARDS AND HONORS

Dutch Championship: 1981, 1982, 1983 (Heerenveen)

WHA Draft Pick: 1975 (by Baltimore, No. 18 overall in Round 2)

Miscellaneous: Selected by Baltimore (WHA) team that folded shortly after the 1975 WHA draft. ... Became a real estate agent in North Vancouver after his retirement.

The Robin Sadler Saga: For Robin Sadler, life in the NHL was less than ideal. Sadler attended Montreal's 1975 training camp, but decided that he did not like the experience after just one week and went home to North Vancouver. He said there was too much pressure on him in pro hockey, and he didn't have any interest in turning pro. He had already signed a three-year, $250,000 contract that included a big signing bonus, but he returned the money, announcing his retirement for the first time in September 1975. Sadler then spent the 1975-76 season playing amateur hockey in Vancouver while earning $250 per week working for a delivery service. He came out of retirement in 1976 to play the 1976-77 season in Sweden, and would later take another shot at North American hockey. After talking to Edmonton coach Glen Sather, he signed a two-year contract with Edmonton (WHA) on June 16, 1977. The deal was worth over $100,000. Sadler, however, left Edmonton training camp in September 1977 after running into issues similar to those he had dealt with two years earlier. He had a 90-minute talk with Edmonton coach Glen Sather and co-owner Nelson Skalbania before deciding to go home to Vancouver. Sather said emotional stress was affecting Sadler's eating habits and he was sorry that Sadler had chosen to leave. In February 1978, Sadler contacted Montreal to express his interest in playing for the Canadiens. He was assigned to Nova Scotia (AHL) in early March 1978, and collected six points in nine games, but quit the team near the end of the season. He returned to Europe for the 1978-79 season and never played North American pro hockey again. In Europe, where he likely experienced a very different sort of atmosphere, he was a top-notch hockey player.

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SNAPSHOT '75 Total Selected: 217 Forwards: 126 Defense: 65 Goaltenders: 26 Major Junior: 135 College Players: 61 Canadian: 162 Euro-Canadian: 3 USA Citizens: 46 U.S.-Born: 45 European: 6 Reached NHL: 87 Won Stanley Cup: 8 Hall of Fame: 0 All-Star Game: 6 Year-end All-Star: 3 Olympians: 11 Picks Traded: 21

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