Goalie Sparks pushing Toronto Marlies closer to Calder Cup final

TORONTO, ON – When Toronto Marlies goalie Garret Sparks was a kid growing up in Illinois, his mom, Lisa, would help him prep for big games. Sparks would stand in front of the family pool table as his net. Lisa would hurl tennis balls at him, picking them out of a big bucket one by one.

“You gotta do what you gotta do at that age to get yourself in the zone,” Sparks says with a laugh. “And it worked.”

Sparks and the Marlies face their biggest game of the season so far when Toronto hosts the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the opener of their American Hockey League third-round playoff series on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.

Marlies’ Garret Sparks honors Humboldt victim Parker Tobin with new goalie mask

TORONTO, ON – Toronto Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks paid homage to deceased Humboldt Broncos goaltender Parker Tobin on the backplate of Sparks’ new goalie mask.

It’s been 40 days since a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team crashed, killing 16 players, coaches and staff. As the story has begun to fade out of the news cycle, though, Toronto Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks is making sure the memory of one of the deceased players lives on.

With the Marlies in the midst of a Calder Cup playoff run, awaiting the start of the Eastern Conference finals against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Sparks revealed he’ll be sporting some new gear when that series begins.

Marlies’ Garret Sparks voted AHL’s most outstanding goalie

TORONTO, ON –

Toronto Marlies goalie Garret Sparks was awarded the 2017-18 Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender, the team announced Wednesday.

The award is voted on by players, coaches and media members.

The 24-year-old finished the regular season with a 30-9-1-1 record and six shutouts, and his 1.81 goals-against average and .936 save percentage through 42 regular season AHL games led the league in both categories and earned him a First Team AHL All-Star nod.

Garret Sparks Named to AHL 1st All-Star Team for 17-18 Season

TORONTO, ONT –

Garret Sparks is having another stellar campaign in his fifth season in Toronto, showing a 30-9-2 record in 42 games for the league-leading Marlies while pacing the AHL with a 1.81 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and six shutouts. Sparks was named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month during January, and put together a scoreless stretch of more than 185 minutes from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2. The 24-year-old native of Elmhurst, Ill., is the first goaltender in the Maple Leafs organization to earn a postseason AHL All-Star berth since Felix Potvin’s First Team nod in 1992.

Sparks Sets Record for All-Time Wins with Marlies

TORONTO, ON –

It was a historic Monday at Air Canada Centre as Garret Sparks became the winningest goalie in Marlies franchise history after making 20 saves in a 4-1 victory over the visiting Laval Rocket.

The Marlies came out strong, sustaining pressure in the offensive zone from the start but weren’t able to punch one on the board until there was 5:35 remaining when Trevor Moore snapped a quick shot from the slot to open the scoring. It was Moore’s ninth of the season and was assisted by Kyle Baun and Frederik Gauthier. Baun’s assist is his first point since joining Toronto.

Garret Sparks Named AHL Goalie of the Month for January

SPRINGFIELD, MA –

Garret Sparks, the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month, was 5-0-1 in six starts during January, allowing just six goals on 177 shots for a 0.98 goals-against average, a .966 save percentage and two shutouts.

Sparks began the month by recording 22 saves in Toronto’s 5-2 win at Laval on Jan. 3. He stopped 33 shots in a 3-2 shootout win over Lehigh Valley on Jan. 5, then denied 26 of 27 attempts in a 4-1 victory at Charlotte on Jan. 12. After a 28-save effort in a win at Syracuse on Jan. 19, Sparks authored back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his AHL career, making 31 saves in a 1-0 shootout loss at Bridgeport on Jan. 21 and then 31 more as the Marlies defeated Rochester, 2-0, on Jan. 26. Sparks ended January having shut out opponents over his last 154:01 of play.

Sparks, 24, has appeared in 25 games for the Marlies this season and ranks first in the entire AHL in goals-against average (1.60), save percentage (.944) and shutouts (4, tied), while his 17-6-1 record puts him one off the lead in wins. The native of Elmhurst, Ill., has a record of 66-25-6 with a 2.13 GAA, a .928 save percentage and 13 shutouts in 103 career AHL appearances, all with Toronto. Sparks is in his fifth season in the Maple Leafs organization after being selected in the seventh round of the 2011 NHL Draft, and has appeared in 17 NHL games with the Leafs.

Sparks Seeing the Results of More Serious Approach

TORONTO, ON – There was nowhere Garret Sparks wanted to be more than in his net last April, guiding the Toronto Marlies through a playoff berth they’d fought hard to earn.

But that chance was cut short for the netminder. During the second game of the Marlies’ first-round series against Albany, Sparks suffered a leg injury that would cap off a roller-coaster year spent battling ailments, veteran competition and a few problems of his own making.