With Jonathan Bernier’s continued struggles and James Reimer recovering from a lower body injury, 22-year-old Garret Sparks will make his NHL debut tonight. You probably knew that, though.
Here are some things you might not know about the Leafs rookie goaltender.
- His mask and pads are on point, which as we all know is the second-most important thing for goalies behind stopping pucks.
- He was named AHL Player of the Week earlier this season.
- He played in the Toronto Marlies’ ridiculous 9-8 overtime win over the St. John’s IceCaps. Sparks’ workload that night: Only 20:28 of playing time, just three shots against, three saves, no goals allowed and the win.
- He’s a Leafs draft pick. That might not seem like a big deal. After all, James Reimer is a Leafs draft pick, too. What’s special is that both Sparks and Reimer are Leafs draft picks. Toronto hasn’t had two home-grown goalies play for the Leafs in the same season since 1998-99 when Felix Potvin and Jeff Reese combined for seven games. Sparks was five years old at the time.
- Sparks will become the first ever goalie drafted by the Leafs in the seventh round to play in an NHL game. Before him was Jan Chovan (2001), Vladimir Kulikov (1999), and Dan Follett (1973). The last Leafs seventh round pick of any position to make the NHL was 2007 selection Carl Gunnarsson.
- Sparks is the first American-born goalie to play for the Leafs since Scott Clemmensen in the 2007-08 season.
- He once got into a fight in the ECHL in a rare “goalie vs. skater” scrap. Both guys doing the play-by-play went completely bananas.
If you want to learn more about the young Leafs goalie you should read Damien Cox’s piece about how Sparks is generating quiet excitement in the Leafs organization.
We will see if he can generate even more excitement tonight.
