Habs Sign Goalie Curtis Sanford

by Robert L on Jul 20, 2009 6:39 PM EDT

Sanford_2_medium

Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced Monday the signing of goaltender Curtis Sanford to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2009-10 season. As per club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Read the rest of the Canadiens press release here.

Two thoughts off the top of my noggin right away.

I equate the name "Sanford" with terms like junkyard, rubble, salvage...comes from watching too many 1970's sitcoms I gather.

Second, if the Canucks upgraded their backup goaltending position by cutting Sanford loose and signing Andrew Raycroft, I wonder how much potential there is in the Habs new stopper.

Essentially he is replacing Marc Denis.

The question we all hope to never find out the answer to is: How many games can Sanford play in Montreal?

Tweet Comment 9 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Er...

We’ll happily take him back if you can swing a deal for Raycroft? Please?

by Thursday on Jul 20, 2009 8:37 PM EDT reply actions

1 year? basically to give desjardins and others 1 extra year to grow.. or do i smell a back up goalie trade? any thoughts?

by jon paine on Jul 20, 2009 9:14 PM EDT reply actions

Jon, I’m not too sure that Desjardins or any other Hab goaltender prospect will ever play for the team. As well, I think we better hold on to Halak just in case Price has another meltdown year.

by 24 Cups on Jul 20, 2009 9:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreeing 100% with 24 Cups.

Though with the upgrade in D, and d-minded play, I think Price will benefit and have a great year. I like Halak, and feel he was inappropriately demoted to back up after Huet returned from injury in 07. Halak played great leading up to the playoffs, then put back on the bench.
They then go sign Price. Dude had a rough go. I think he is a good talent and could start (here later or somewhere else now) but would hope Gainey isn’t itchin to get rid of him due to his value later in the year. I have a feeling he would have been in the Vinny trade… but… I digress … talking about a thing that didn’t happen never helps anyone.

by Cruisin4aBruisin on Jul 20, 2009 9:47 PM EDT reply actions

I fear that Gainey will trade Halak so Carey doesn’t feel threatened by the competition. I see this favoritism and star pandering going on with the Islanders and their poster-boy DiPietro.
I’m not too confident Gainey would not do something which most Canadiens fans and writers would agree is stupid in trading Halak. I know I’m very negative about this but this really has irked me. It’s ridiculous that we are going to wait for Carey to mature or grow up. He’s either ready or not and we’ve got another guy who seems very capable of challenging for a starter’s role.

by nyhabsfan on Jul 21, 2009 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

Any player is tradeable, but trading Halak isn’t a priority. Sanford is around to replace Denis. He even got the exact same contract that Denis had.

Next year, anything can happen. Both goalies are RFA’s next year and Bob might choose to move Halak at that point in time.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Jul 21, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that playing one up against the other is the best way to go. I’d even go into rotation for the first half season and see who emerges on top.

Carey feeling threatened might be a good thing. Both goalies are in their contract years. This upcoming season will tell us if both are keepers. If it determined at some point that Halak is to be traded, hopefully it is when his value is up. Nothing less than a second round pick is a satisfiable return.

by Robert L on Jul 21, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

1950s Bruins had a Sanford

Ed Sanford had an instinctive feeling that, in spite of the honour of being scouting by the pros, his education was important. So he attended St. Michael’s College to complete his high school degree as a foundation for future learning and, in the process, proceeded to scorch a path through the OHA, scoring 91 points in 36 games.

Sanford’s formal education, however, was put on permanent hold in the wake of the Boston Bruins desire to integrate the young sniper into their line-up. But once there, he found that, at age 19, it was very difficult to keep up with the more physically mature and experienced players such as Richard, Lach, and the Bentleys. He’d have preferred more seasoning at university first. But nonetheless, he stuck it out and evolved into a steady performer who was good for about 30 points per season.

His most striking performance came during the playoffs of 1953. The Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup finals and although they were ousted four games to one by the Canadiens, Sanford contributed eight goals and three assists to the losing cause.

by my name on Jul 22, 2009 3:56 PM EDT reply actions