Curtis Sanford

Curtis Sanford
Sanford during his time with the Canucks on January 3, 2008
Born (1979-10-05) October 5, 1979
Owen Sound, Ontario
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2000–2015

Curtis Sanford (born October 5, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played parts of 6 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. Outside of the NHL, Sanford played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

He currently works as a goaltending coach for Toronto Maple Leafs.

Career

Before playing in the NHL, Sanford played parts of four seasons with the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and 6 regular season games with the Missouri River Otters of the United Hockey League (UHL).

He was not drafted by an NHL team. On October 9, 2000, Sanford signed a contract to join the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] He was immediately sent down to play for their ECHL and AHL-affiliate Peoria Rivermen and Worcester IceCats. On October 17, 2002, the Blues called him up and Sanford made his NHL debut, stopping 12 of 13 shots in a 7–1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.[2] On March 1, 2003, Sanford stopped all 27 shots he faced in a 2–0 win against the Minnesota Wild to earn his first NHL shutout.[3] On September 10, 2004, Sanford signed a contract to stay with the Blues.[4] The NHL named him as the NHL Defensive Player of the Week for the weed of November 21.[5]

On July 3, 2007, Sanford signed a one-year, $600,000 contract to join the Vancouver Canucks.[6] The Canucks signed Sanford as a backup goaltender to Roberto Luongo. On July 3, 2008, Sanford signed a one-year, $650,000 contract to stay with the Canucks.[7] In November 2008, Sanford became the Canucks starting goaltender after Luongo was out with an injury.[8] The starting job did not last long as Sanford was injured with back spasms and a groin injury.[9][10] On January 14, 2009, the Canucks placed Sanford on waivers and he cleared them to play for their AHL-affiliate Manitoba Moose.[11]

On July 20, 2009, Sanford signed a one-year, two-way contract to join the Montreal Canadiens.[12] He was sent down to play for their AHL-affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs. On July 1, 2010, Sanford signed a one-year, $550,000 contract to stay with the Canadiens.[13]

He played parts of two seasons with the Bulldogs. He was awarded the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for the goaltender with the lowest goals against average in the AHL.[14]

On July 1, 2011, Sanford signed a one-year, $600,000 contract to join the Columbus Blue Jackets.[15] He played 36 regular season games with the Blue Jackets, posting a record of 10–18, a 2.60 goals against average, and a .911 save percentage.

After the season, Sanford decided to sign a contract with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The team was still rebuilding at the time shortly after the team was killed in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.[16] He played parts of three seasons with the team.

On March 7, 2015, Sanford announced that he was retiring from playing professional ice hockey.[17] On July 5, 2022, Sanford signed a contract to join the Toronto Maple Leafs to become a goaltending coach for the team.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "St. Louis Blues Recall Goaltender Curtis Sanford From Worcester". St. Louis Blues. Archived from the original on December 21, 2002. Retrieved March 30, 2026. The Owen Sound, Ontario native was signed by the Blues as a free agent on Oct. 9, 2000.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "An all-time great backstop: Catching up with stalwart former Worcester IceCats goalie Curtis Sanford". Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Offense a No-Show for Hawks". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  4. ↑ "St. Louis Blues Re-Sign Defenseman Christian Backman, Goaltenders Curtis Sanford And Chris Beckford-Tseu And Forward Erkki Rajamaki And Konstantin Zakharov". St. Louis Blues. Archived from the original on October 10, 2004. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ "Blues' Goaltender Sanford Is Top Defensive Player". St. Louis Blues. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "Canucks sign Sanford to back up Luongo". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ↑ "Sundin sits back as big names sign". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Luongo injury creates opportunity for Sanford". CBC Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Losing skid continues for Vancouver Canucks". National Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Nucks lose game 3-2 and goalie Sanford". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Curtis Sanford is put on waivers". The Province. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Canadiens sign netminder Curtis Sanford to a one-year contract". Montreal Canadiens. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "Curtis Sanford back in 2010–11". Montreal Canadiens. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ↑ "Bulldogs Desjardins, Sanford win Harry "Hap" Holmes Award". Hamilton Bulldogs. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ↑ "Columbus Blue Jackets Agree to Terms with Goaltenders Mark Dekanich and Curtis Sanford". Columbus Blue Jackets. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ "Sanford off to KHL, goaltending market continues to thin out". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Sanford retires". Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (in Russian). Retrieved March 30, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Wickenheiser, Hardy and Metcalf to serve as Assistant General Managers". Toronto Maple Leafs. Retrieved March 30, 2026.

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