Nick Sanza (born February 6, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

Playing career

Sanza played major junior in the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL; , LHJMQ), formerly the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The league includes teams in Quebec ...

(QMJHL) for three seasons with the Montreal Red White and Blue and

Sherbrooke Beavers The Sherbrooke Castors or Beavers (in English) was the name of two different junior ice hockey teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and another team in the Quebec Eastern Provincial Hockey League. Both later franchises played at the Pal ...

. He set a league record for most shutouts in a single season with seven in 1974–75 (later tied by

Roberto Luongo Roberto Luongo (, , ; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and Vancouver Canucks. In 2022, Luongo was ...

and

Adam Russo Adam Russo (born April 12, 1983) is a Canadian/Italian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He participated at the 2010 IIHF World Championship as a member of the Italian National men's ice hockey team. Playing career Russo played major j ...

). He joined the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

in 1975–76 and played with the

Erie Blades The Erie Blades name was used by two professional ice hockey teams in Erie, Pennsylvania. Both teams played their home games in the Erie County Field House. After the second Blades team folded, the void was filled by the Erie Golden Blades, a ...

and

Beauce Jaros The Beauce Jaros were a minor professional ice hockey team from Saint-Georges, Quebec, located in the "Beauce" region of the province. The Jaros played one full season in the North American Hockey League during the 1975–76 NAHL season, and we ...

. Sanza turned pro in 1975–76 with the

Tucson Mavericks The Tucson Mavericks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It wa ...

of the

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

(CHL). Having been drafted 64th overall by the

Denver Spurs The Denver Spurs were a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Spurs began play in the Western Hockey League in 1968, and played at the Denver Coliseum. The Spurs became the first professional sports team in Colorado to win a champions ...

in the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft, he joined the club in 1975-76. He had also been drafted 150th overall in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft by the

Atlanta Flames The Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta from 1972 until 1980. They played home games in the Omni Coliseum and were members of the West and later Patrick divisions of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with t ...

, but he never played a game in the NHL. In 1976-77, Sanza returned to the minor leagues with the

Greensboro Generals The Greensboro Generals were an East Coast Hockey League team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and played at the Greensboro Coliseum from 1999 to 2004. The name was originally used by the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League. Th ...

of the SHL. Two seasons later, he enrolled at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

and played in the Canadian university circuit. In 1987-88, he went overseas to play in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

with

HC Asiago Asiago Hockey 1935 is an Italian professional ice hockey team from Asiago which plays in the Alps Hockey League. Until 2021–22, Asiago played in the Italian Hockey League - Serie A, winning the championship eight times. Honours Domestic *Italia ...

and later with the Milan Devils.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanza, Nick 1955 births Living people Alberta Golden Bears ice hockey players Atlanta Flames draft picks Beauce Jaros players Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Denver Spurs (WHA) players Denver Spurs draft picks Erie Blades players Greensboro Generals (SHL) players Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge players Sherbrooke Castors players Tucson Mavericks players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen