Alumni Spotlight: Curtis Sanford New Maple Leafs Goalie Coach
Former Owen Sound Platers goalie Curtis Sanford is moving closer to home after being named the new Goalie Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this summer.
Sanford, a native of Owen Sound, was drafted 104 overall by the Platers in 1996, and would go on to play in 158 games for the organization. A staple in the Platers net, Sanford sits in the top 5 for career wins with 65, and still holds the organizations record for career playoff wins with 13. Sanford’s best season came during the 1998-99 season, when he appeared in 51 games, and earned 30 wins.
“There’s definitely a unique pressure that comes from playing in front of family and friends every night,” Sanford offered when asked how his time in Owen Sound prepared him for the eventual pro career. “There’s a sense of having to be on you A game every night, and that’s something that I was able to control and it really helped me transition into the pressures of playing pro hockey.”
Though never drafted out of junior hockey, Sanford signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues and made the jump to pro hockey during the 2000-01 season. The net minder would spend his first two season’s in the pro ranks between the ECHL and AHL, before getting his first NHL action with St. Louis during the 2002-03 season. Sanford would spend 10 seasons with the Blues organization, before moving on during the 2007-08 off-season when he joined the Vancouver Canucks. Sanford would spend two seasons in Vancouver, appearing in 35 games, and would have another 36 appearances with the Columbus Blue Jackets during 2011-12 season, before heading overseas to conclude his pro career. The Owen Sound native would play three seasons in the KHL with Yarslovl Lokomotiv.
After enjoying a 15 year pro career, spanning four different leagues, Sanford returned to professional hockey in 2017 as a goalie consultant with the Utica Comets, Vancouver’s AHL team. Sanford would stick with Utica for four years as a goalie consultant, helping develop the young Canuck goalies in Vancouver’s systems. It was during the 2021-22 season that Sanford took a promotion within the Canucks system, as he became Goalie Coach for the Abbotsford Canucks.
“I think the biggest thing I try to teach players today, is to just be yourself,” Sanford said. “I know growing up I would always try and incorporate different players styles into my game. I would just watch guys like Roy and Brodeur and pick small things from their style and try and teach myself how to use that skill in my game. I think for young players today they have to learn to be their own coach and just enjoy playing hockey.”
The Owen Sound Attack want to wish Curtis good luck as he continues his venture as an NHL Goalie Coach in Toronto.
