Player Spotlight; Cole Sanford

Detailing what to expect from the former Cardiff Devil and where he would likely fit at his new club.

Sanford is an elite pro skater, who possesses exceptional top six talent.

He has a steely desire to win, but often lacks the disciplined fortitude to control his emotions, especially during high stakes games.

He brings the elite tools and skillset to build a solid, high end system around him, as his playmaking ability helps to drive offense.

This is also backed up by high volume shooting tendencies, with a grade A scoring record in the Elite Ice Hockey League.

He contributes on the power play and has been vital in securing game winners during his terrific stretch and career with the Cardiff Devils.

The 30 year old from Vernon, BC, Canada, had a scintillating record with WHL outfit, Medicine Hat Tigers, before going on to produce a solid career in the USports system with University of Alberta.

He won the USports Cup and was named across all star teams.

Following that, he spent a season in the ECHL with Florida Everblades, where he won the ECHL Brabham Cup.

He was then recruited to the Devils and went on to pick up x2 EIHL Playoff titles and a IIHF Continental Cup trophy. He also collected a bronze medal in the same IIHF competition, whilst being recognised as a first EIHL all star (and 2nd) and best forward in the IIHF Continental Cup.

He is a player that comes with a pedigree of high end talent, experience of winning titles and being recognised as a top end forward.

Cole Sanford has produced some highly respectable numbers in the EIHL, often landing around the top 10 for points amongst forwards.

He went to just over 50% for goals across 5 seasons in the EIHL, going every other game with a goal. That is some feat. He also contributed nearly 52% of his total offensive output with assists. Crucially, 54% were primary helpers (comprising up to 29% of his total points).

He is as much a playmaker, as a goal scorer.

Whilst he lacks in size, he often finds pockets of space to feed a line mate or picks pockets and dekes goalies for fun. He is also known for a hat-trick from time to time.

Although he has often been streaky, both as a finisher and a distributor, he still manages to land around 20 goals a season and dishes as many for his team mates.

This has surprisingly resulted in what has been a noticeable decline in recent seasons, especially after such a terrific second jaunt. The goals tallied offset time off from injury, so even though he can ‘go missing’ at times, he still chips in.

Meaning, that even when he has missed some games from injury or embarked upon a goal or pointless skid, his pace hasn’t reduced. He bounces back.

The data in the card above provides a forgiving insight into the player who, with a few extras in his arsenal, would become an all time leader if he continued to stay in this league.

For example, he has been both noted as a terrific natural goalscorer as well as a playmaker above all else. Some my own words, some paraphrasing a club GM, identifying a player with dual threat capability.

The data is represented as Sanfords’ raw volume scored relative to league percentile rankings. In turn, his evaluation was represented on a strict per-game-basis, allowing a true baseline to assess the weight of his offensive engine.

Then, you have the noticeable drop in actual goals scored in the league (minus cup and playoffs), which might contradict the former assertion of his game.

I would caveat that, with an analytical overview, if he had indeed hit a lower, but temporary scoring volume, then his playmaking engine would naturally step forward to produce a higher percentage overall.

In either case, he still represents his overall net production as a high end, top tier asset.

Keys to His Game

1. Keeping emotions in check

Particular traits where Sanford often goes off his game, are when calls or plays go against him on the ice. The frustration occurs almost too frequently.

This could often result in either time in the box for a chippy slash or a total shutdown of focus. It doesn’t mean he lacks any form of desire.

He wants to win.

He can be a game changing asset for any team and has a fierce reputation for breaking hearts or slipping the slow dagger between the ribs of teams.

Dialling him in mentally on a consistent basis, would create an absolute monster for any coach to deploy.

2. Sharpen Shot Utilisation

He is affectionally known as ‘Goal’ Sanford for good reason, but his reputation and tendencies does come with a distinct feeling across the stands.

He is a high volume shooter, which over 5 years in the EIHL (of what has been tracked, updated) he had registered 1,929 total shots (League, Cup, Playoffs).

1,105 of those were on net.

His shot to net % sits at 57.3, which demonstrates a high quality capability. It however, hasn’t translated to a higher return of goals.

When it comes to his net front conversions, he has averaged at 14.8% for his true finishing talent.

Where as his gross conversion rate of 8.5%, providing a solid reliability of when he pulls the trigger at any given time on the ice, inclusive of 5 on 5, OT or special teams, there is a near 1 in 12 chance of the puck in the back of the net.

In comparison to one the best forwards in the EIHL (Balmas), Sanford notably relies less on special teams for scoring, weighting higher at EVS.

The key element against the top scoring forward in recent years is shot utilisation, landing less through traffic by 4% and marginally more productive by 0.25% for SOG.

Improve this and he will become a vital component to challenge for EIHL honours for any club.

3. Surround with high end production

Sanford has had a career playing with long standing friend and former career man, Trevor Cox, Joey Martin and recently Kristoff Kontos.

At times he lined up with Josh MacDonald and Zach O’Brien, where the chemistry was off the charts.

However, if a line doesn’t quite click and struggles to find the grease to get the wheels going, Sanford also notably drops off.

This was felt most during the previous season, until he was matched with Kontos, making for a punishing duo, despite MacDonald leading the team with goals scored.

He (Sanford) feeds from creativity and the buzz of goal scoring, especially the competition internally.

This also feeds into accountability. Keeping a highly emotional, but driven line mate in check requires to hold them not just to a high regard, but to meet those expectations as well.

Without those, he may wilt and struggle to re-find that highly clinical focus.