Tell me if these statistics aren’t exceptional for hockey goaltender……….
Forty games played in a 54 game schedule, 1.81 goals against average, 7 shutouts and a save percentage of .938
Those stats belong to Owen Sound netminder Curtis Sanford who one of these days will pop back onto a plane and return to Russia for Kontinental League action with the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv.
While Sanford’s stats are terrific, the truth is they needed to be.
Lokomotiv lost 5 of their first 6 games, never mustered much offense all season and barely made the Western Conference playoffs as the # 8 seed.
But once they were in the postseason, magically it came together as they upset # 1 Dynamo, upset # 2 St Petersburg and finally were halted by Prague in the West Final.
Remarkable.
And for Curtis Sanford, it was truly rewarding.
In NHL stops at St Louis, Vancouver and Columbus, Sanford seldom had the feeling he was ” the guy “, even in some cases where his play deserved the label, it was never accorded, never for long.
And as such, Curtis Sanford is quite eager to get back to the KHL this month and pick up where Lokomotiv left off last season
I’m Fred Wallace