Curtis Sanford Supprot for a Price

This is not meant as a knock on Carey Price but the Montreal Canadiens made what could be classified as an important signing when they inked veteran Curtis Sanford to be their backup goalie. Going into the off-season Montreal who finished eighth in the Eastern Conference with 93 points before getting swept by the Boston Bruins in round one, were left with a lot of questions. Besides dealing with who to sign out of their 10 free agents, GM Bob Gainey had to address certain issues such as adding more scorers and addressing the goaltending situation. When Boston finished off the series in beating Montreal by a 4-1 score many of the faithful supporters began booing the Canadiens. For whatever reason a big target for the home fans was their talented but rattled goalie who was coming off what could be described as an inconsistent season. Price who was Montreal’s fifth overall pick in the 2005 Entry Draft has shown flashes of great potential in his brief NHL career. This 21 year-old has put together an impressive resume that includes winning the Canadian Major Junior Goaltender Of The Year Award in 2007 while with Tri City and the following season making the NHL All Rookie Team. Price who made the All Star Team last year in Montreal suffered a below average second half which carried over into post season play where he was inconsistent. Again the Bruins Price couldn’t duplicate the magic of his rookie season as he started and lost all four games and in the process racked up a dismal 4.11 GAA and an ugly .878 Save Percentage. Though I’m not a Montreal fan I felt it was a huge mistake when the fans began booing and calling out the Vancouver native. Once deemed as unflappable it was obvious that a frustrated Price had enough of the Montreal fans when he mocked them by waiving his stick and glove in the air after they gave him a sarcastic ovation. During that entire series Montreal had trouble scoring and by blaming Price fans were just sapping confidence from an already fragile goalie.

Gainey did the right thing on Monday when he went out and signed an experienced veteran goalie in 29 year-old Curtis Sanford to a one- year pact. Over the past two campaigns Sanford has put together an 11-11-1 record with an impressive 2.69 GAA in 35 games. Sanford who strung together a 7-3-3 record with a phenomenal 1.73 GAA in a 16 game stint with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League last year started his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues. Overall since the 2002/03 season, this Owen Sound native has a 37-37-16 record with 5 shutouts and a 2.76 GAA in 108 games with the Blues and Canucks. Besides for his performance as the backup Sanford will be relied upon to help Price emotionally if he has a bad game and to help build the youngster’s confidence.