Curtis Sanford

Curtis Sanford (born October 5, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender who last played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He is currently a goalie coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playing career Sanford played junior hockey for the Wiarton Wolves of the Western Junior C Hockey League, the Collingwood Blues of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (OPJHL), the Owen Sound Greys of the Midwestern Junior B Hockey League and the Owen Sound Platers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before turning professional.

Undrafted out of junior, Sanford was signed as a free agent by the St. Louis Blues after his final year with the Platers in 2000, Sanford briefly earned the starting position in the absence of the Blues' usual goaltenders before going down with an injury himself, a high-ankle sprain, on October 24 against the Edmonton Oilers. He returned to start in several more games and posted a 5–1 record and a 1.96 GAA in his first stint with the Blues before being returned to Worcester.

In 2005–06, Sanford appeared poised to play backup to the recently acquired Patrick Lalime. However, as Lalime struggled, Sanford seized the starting position and was having a career year until going down with a sprained ACL in his left knee in March. Before missing the remainder of the season, Sanford had a 13–13–5 record with a 2.66 goals against average (GAA) and .908 save percentage. The Blues finished in last place that year. Recovered from his knee injury, Sanford returned the next season and competed with Manny Legace for the starting position. In November, he was sidelined for several games with a groin strain, then re-injured his groin in December, missing an extended period of time. Sanford returned to complete the season but saw his numbers decrease to an 8–12–5 record with a 3.18 GAA and .888 save percentage.

Sanford became an unrestricted free agent in the off-season and on July 3, 2007, the Vancouver Canucks signed him to a one-year, $600,000 contract to back-up starting goaltender Roberto Luongo. He appeared in 16 games in the 2007–08 season, filling in for Luongo mostly in light of his rib injury in December. Posting a 2.83 GAA, he was re-signed to another one-year contract worth $650,000 by the Canucks on July 3, 2008.

Before the start of the 2008–09 season, Sanford and the Canucks held a contest challenging fans to submit artwork for a new mask design. This was to go along with his new nickname of "The Big C.S." Sanford's nickname, "the Sandman", inspired his previous mask designs. After Luongo suffered a groin injury in late November, Sanford assumed the starting position. However, Sanford himself became prone to injury and suffered back spasms in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 1, 2008, before being placed on injured reserve with a groin injury on December 30. With the subsequent acquisition of Jason LaBarbera and the imminent return of Luongo, Sanford was placed on waivers by the Canucks on January 14, 2009. Clearing waivers, he was assigned to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, where he completed the season.

In the off-season, Sanford signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Montreal Canadiens on July 20, 2009, for the 2009–10 season. With both Jaroslav Halák and Carey Price minding net, Sanford was assigned to the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. After a successful season with the Bulldogs, he signed a one-year extension.

Sanford signed a one-year contract and spent the 2011–12 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, appearing in 36 games. Following the season, he agreed to terms on a contract with Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl; Lokomotiv were still rebuilding after losing its entire team in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.

At the conclusion of his third season with Lokomotiv, Sanford announced his retirement from professional hockey on March 7, 2015.

On July 5, 2022, it was announced that Sanford would be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as a goaltending coach.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1994–95 Wiarton Wolves WJCHL 18 949 98 0 6.20 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Collingwood Blues OPJHL 21 2128 74 0 3.54 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Owen Sound Greys MWJHL 6 360 28 0 4.68 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Owen Sound Platers OHL 19 4 8 1 847 77 0 5.45 .878 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Owen Sound Platers OHL 30 13 10 2 1542 114 1 4.44 .895 9 4 4 456 30 1 3.95 — 1998–99 Owen Sound Platers OHL 56 30 16 5 2998 191 2 3.82 .895 16 9 7 960 58 0 3.63 — 1999–00 Owen Sound Platers OHL 53 18 26 6 3124 198 1 3.80 .898 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Missouri River Otters UHL 6 3 1 0 237 6 0 1.52 .946 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Peoria Rivermen ECHL 24 15 7 4 1511 48 3 1.91 .925 14 9 4 813 28 2 2.07 — 2000–01 Worcester IceCats AHL 5 3 0 1 237 16 0 4.06 .857 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Peoria Rivermen ECHL 24 13 8 2 1418 58 1 2.45 .906 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Worcester IceCats AHL 9 5 4 2 537 22 0 2.46 .922 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Worcester IceCats AHL 41 18 14 8 2317 93 3 2.41 .919 3 0 3 179 8 0 2.68 .924 2002–03 St. Louis Blues NHL 8 5 1 0 397 13 1 1.96 .912 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Worcester IceCats AHL 43 20 16 3 2367 84 5 2.13 .921 9 4 5 569 24 0 2.53 .922 2004–05 Worcester IceCats AHL 50 19 25 2 2743 123 2 2.69 .901 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 St. Louis Blues NHL 34 13 13 5 1830 81 3 2.66 .908 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Peoria Rivermen AHL 6 4 2 0 358 11 2 1.84 .929 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 31 8 12 5 1491 79 0 3.18 .888 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Peoria Rivermen AHL 2 1 1 0 119 49 0 2.52 .898 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 4 3 1 679 32 0 2.83 .898 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Vancouver Canucks NHL 19 7 8 0 972 42 1 2.59 .906 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Manitoba Moose AHL 16 7 3 3 865 25 2 1.73 .936 1 0 1 43 1 0 1.40 .957 2009–10 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 41 23 11 3 2230 79 4 2.13 .916 9 5 4 565 19 2 2.02 .925 2010–11 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 40 22 13 2 2274 73 5 1.93 .930 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 36 10 18 4 1983 86 1 2.60 .911 — — — — — — — — 2012–13 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 24 12 7 3 1385 52 0 2.25 .927 6 2 4 414 14 0 2.03 .944 2013–14 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 40 18 17 2 2218 67 7 1.81 .938 18 9 9 1125 36 2 1.92 .934 2014–15 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 38 15 15 4 2191 89 2 2.44 .918 4 2 2 230 11 0 2.87 .905 NHL totals 144 47 55 15 7354 333 6 2.72 .904 — — — — — — — — KHL totals 102 45 39 9 5793 208 9 2.20 .928 28 13 15 1768 61 2 2.20 .929

Awards and honours Award Year ECHL Second All-Star Team 2000–01 AHL Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award 2009–10 Second All-Star Team 2010–11 KHL First All-Star Team 2013–14