Sandford played junior hockey with the
St. Michael's Majors and led the team to the
Memorial Cup playoffs in 1945-46 and 1946-77. In the latter season, Sandford led the
Ontario Hockey Association with 67 points in 27 games, and scored 24 points in nine OHA playoff games and 28 points in ten Memorial Cup games, en route to St. Michael's third Memorial Cup title. He was awarded the
Red Tilson Trophy as the OHA's most valuable player. Sandford was signed by the
Boston Bruins in
1947. He appeared in the
NHL All-Star Game in five consecutive seasons from
1951 to
1955. In
1952-53 he led all scorers in the playoffs with eight goals and eleven points. His best season was
1953-54, when he scored 16 goals and 31 assists for 47 points and finished in the top ten in league scoring. The next season, he succeeded the retiring
Milt Schmidt as Bruins' captain. After eight seasons with the Bruins, Sandford was traded in 1955 in a nine-player deal — the largest in NHL history to that date — to the
Detroit Red Wings. After four games for Detroit, the Wings dealt him to the
Chicago Black Hawks, where he finished the season before retiring. He scored 106 goals and 145 assists for 251 points in 503 games and served 355 minutes in penalties. In 2023 he was named One of the Top 100 Best Bruins Players of all Time. ==Retirement==