The St. Louis Blues were frustrating many by continually playing Sanford, even when he was doing nothing. Lately, he has earned his chances.
Throughout the St. Louis Blues history there have been lots of players that draw strong reactions on both sides, for good and bad. Zach Sanford is now in that category.
Sanford is by no means the first or will he be the last player for the Blues like this. He’s not even the only one right now.
Justin Faulk has been lumped into this category. You have fans, like myself, that still see the value in Faulk and understand the change he’s gone through, but on the other side you have fans that think he has no worth.
Similarly, Sanford has fans that love him and hate him – maybe hate is too strong, but you know.
Most of us think these battles among the fans only apply to goaltenders, but it just gets more heated among goaltender discussions. Like Jake Allen, Sanford has fans that jump on him every game that he has no point and disappears into the background. Conversely, he has plenty of fans that jump onto social media to tell their counterparts to suck it every time he gets a goal or even assist.
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Those particular fans have had more reason to be chirpy lately.
Sanford currently has points in six straight games. These are not just junk points either.
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He scored two goals in a 6-3 win over Carolina. He has four goals in his last nine games too. That might not sound overly impressive, but that’s close to a goal every other game, which is not bad at all for a guy that has been a point of frustration for some.
What we also forget is that Sanford is still growing as a player. He might be 25, but 2018-19 was really only his first full NHL season and he still only played 60 regular season games.
Interestingly enough, especially as someone who has regularly said he should sit in the press box, Sanford has already eclipsed his career numbers. Last season, in 60 games, he had eight goals and 20 points. Through 41 games played in 2019-20, he has eight goals and 21 points.
The problem with Sanford, for me anyway, is he is too hot and cold. That has little to do with his numbers.
The guy is playing in a second line role. Some nights you might even argue his line is the team’s top line when Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron are really cooking.
However, Sanford averages under 13 minutes per game on the ice. O’Reilly averages over 20 minutes and Perron averages over 18 minutes this season.
Some of the disparity can be chalked up to special teams minutes for O’Reilly and Perron. Not all of it is just power play or penalty kill time.
Sanford does not do enough in every game to earn the trust of the coaches in certain situations. So, they end up benching him for a shift or two or three, especially when he is not engaged.
That is the kicker here. Sanford got his spot on the team based on tenacity, but even though he has almost doubled his career total in hits, there are just some nights where he’s a ghost.
When you’re playing with two of the team’s best offensive players, you would figure you would be engaged in the game some way or the other. Maybe you’re not scoring or setting up, but do something to impact the game. Some nights, if you did not hear the announcer say his name by receiving a pass from the other two, you would not know he was there.
But, lately, we have seen more of why Craig Berube keeps giving him chances. It is not solely offense, or else someone with a higher ceiling like Jordan Kyrou would be getting more of a look. It is the overall game.
Sanford has been engaging the opponent, winning board battles and also getting points lately. If he could keep up the effort consistently, fans like myself would have a lot less to pick on.
We are not asking Sanford to be a 20 goal scorer. We just want him to justify having a role on the team’s second line, which he does not always do.