Sparks is an NHL goalie for sure.

[Cor]

Speaks more about how awful those other guys are. Tell me which good team would have McElhinney as their starter? There are none.

I mean, Carolina's been pretty good with McBackup in their net

Besides, just because their other goalies are crap, doesn't take away from McBackup doing well again.

 

[zeke]

you're quoting me, asking me to engage, Zeke?

Andersen plays with the weight of Leaf nation on his shoulders, he is supposed to win every game against the elite teams. Sparks doesn't play with that pressure. It's not right to compare the two.

 

[Cor]

I'm sure you would happily evaluate the decision as a complete failure if Sparks had a poor 5 games, but that would be silly

In the case of a backup goalie, 5 straight losses is enough to move on to another option (if we had another option available, which we currently don't). It may not be fair, but that's how it is. Backup goalies need to win. I think you would agree that's been my personal mantra on the situation. I felt McBackup shouldve been kept base on his play the prior two years, and based on how hes played in CAR, that's not necessarily wrong, but Sparks is also winning, and if Sparks keeps winning, awesome, there's no issue. However, like we saw with Enroth, if you can't do your job, you're gone, and you'll be gone fairly quickly, and that would go for Sparks or McBackup.

I was about to saw, if Sparks can be what Corey Schwab was for New Jersey, i'd be ecstatic, but then I realized Schwab only played parts of 2 seasons in New Jersey, which is odd because I always think of Schwab as the Devils long-time backup, yet he played more for the Leafs in 1 season, than he did for the parts of 3 seasons he spent with the Devils. The Mandella effect man

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

In the case of a backup goalie, 5 straight losses is enough to move on to another option (if we had another option available, which we currently don't). It may not be fair, but that's how it is. Backup goalies need to win. I think you would agree that's been my personal mantra on the situation. I felt McBackup shouldve been kept base on his play the prior two years, and based on how hes played in CAR, that's not necessarily wrong, but Sparks is also winning, and if Sparks keeps winning, awesome, there's no issue. However, like we saw with Enroth, if you can't do your job, you're gone, and you'll be gone fairly quickly, and that would go for Sparks or McBackup.

I was about to saw, if Sparks can be what Corey Schwab was for New Jersey, i'd be ecstatic, but then I realized Schwab only played parts of 2 seasons in New Jersey, which is odd because I always think of Schwab as the Devils long-time backup, yet he played more for the Leafs in 1 season, than he did for the parts of 3 seasons he spent with the Devils. The Mandella effect man

I'm talking strictly about the decision to keep the 25 year old AHL goalie of the year over the 35 year old career backup in a vacuum. Yes it's possible it might not have worked out, but a GM should make that choice 100% of the time. Luckily it did work out so far

 

[Cor]

I'm talking strictly about the decision to keep the 25 year old AHL goalie of the year over the 35 year old career backup in a vacuum. Yes it's possible it might not have worked out, but a GM should make that choice 100% of the time. Luckily it did work out so far

That's a matter of perspective thought I think.

I personally think Sparks is a backup goalie. I don't see him ever being our legitimate starter, or a starter anywhere, much like I did with James Reimer (and got yelled at all the same lol)

So to me, you have the younger unproven goalie at the NHL level, or the veteran backup who has been one of the best backups in the leagues over the previous 2 or 3 years, entering a year where we expect to challenge for the division and make a deep run. Based on that, I take McBackup, and hope you can get an asset for Sparks or he clears waivers.

As you said, it's working out, so I'm not sure why anyone would be upset with the current situation, other than that we should maybe find a better third string goalie than Eamon McAdam lol

 

[Mr Hockey]

lol, that's good...

			Goal	Goal	Goal	Goal	Goal	Goal	Goal
Rk	Player	Age	GP	MIN	QS	QS%	RBS	GA%-	GSAA	GAA	GPS
1	Frederik Andersen	29	19	1127	14	.737	2	76	13.30		4.8
2	Garret Sparks	25	5	303	3	.600	1	82	2.76		1.3

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Goalie Stats
GP -- Games Played
MIN -- Minutes
QS -- Quality Starts
Starts with SV% > average SV% for the year, or at least 88.5% on nights with 20 or fewer shots against.
Developed by Rob Vollman in the Hockey Abstract.
QS% -- Quality Start Percentage
QS/GS
> 60% Good, < 50% Bad, ~53% League Avg
RBS -- Really Bad Starts
Starts with a SV% below 85%.
Developed by Rob Vollman in the Hockey Abstract
GA%- -- GA Pct- is goals allowed % relative to league goals allowed %
Lower is better, 100 is exactly average, 0 means you have saved 100% of shots faced. Min. 4 shots faced per team game needed to qualify.
GSAA -- Goals Saved Above Average, the goals this goalie prevented given his save percentage and shots faced vs. the league average save percentage on the same number of shots. Min. 4 shots faced per team game needed to qualify.
Adjusted
GAA -- Adjusted Goals Against Average
Point Shares
GPS -- Goalie Point Shares; an estimate of the number of points contributed by a player due to his play in goal.

from Hockey-Reference.com

 

[therealkoho]

I casually lump you in with the "fake news" people around here and Leafs Connected. Anything reported by a media source is false. Any opinion or speculation given by someone in the media holds no bearing.

so do you post on LC?

just because i've been saying for years that Dreger is 99% full of horsepuckey, when a whole bunch of people took his word as gospel doesn't make me fake news, most of those same people now know that Dreger is 99% full of horsepuckey and the rest are still clinging to hope that both he and they were right all along!

So no, I wouldn't say fake news I would say I held an opinion that as it turned out has more truth in it then the magical rumours of one Daren Dreger. Years ago I posted a magical rumour of an upcoming trade, a trade that actually made sense(a trade that was never done but the player in question did eventually get traded out of Toronto.) It appeared as a Dreger rumour about 6 weeks later, same structure down to the picks involved. Dreger as a reporter is run of the mill. Dreger as media personality is bigger then life in his own barnyard.

I am still not going to be dismissive of Zigamanis. People can take what they will from his opinion.

i was not being dismissive, and have no idea where you got that idea from

his was an opinion, the same opinion that most of us have, simply put, he clearly stated "player doesn't play well player gets sent down," well no kidding eh!

even after the last few games where Sparks is playing at the level the Leafs want him to, the very same idea holds true that if he stumbles "player doesn't play well, player gets sent down," not hard to figure out my friend.

 

[ottomaddox]

so do you post on LC?

just because i've been saying for years that Dreger is 99% full of horsepuckey, when a whole bunch of people took his word as gospel doesn't make me fake news, most of those same people now know that Dreger is 99% full of horsepuckey and the rest are still clinging to hope that both he and they were right all along!

So no, I wouldn't say fake news I would say I held an opinion that as it turned out has more truth in it then the magical rumours of one Daren Dreger. Years ago I posted a magical rumour of an upcoming trade, a trade that actually made sense(a trade that was never done but the player in question did eventually get traded out of Toronto.) It appeared as a Dreger rumour about 6 weeks later, same structure down to the picks involved. Dreger as a reporter is run of the mill. Dreger as media personality is bigger then life in his own barnyard.



i was not being dismissive, and have no idea where you got that idea from

his was an opinion, the same opinion that most of us have, simply put, he clearly stated "player doesn't play well player gets sent down," well no kidding eh!

even after the last few games where Sparks is playing at the level the Leafs want him to, the very same idea holds true that if he stumbles "player doesn't play well, player gets sent down," not hard to figure out my friend.

Yes. I post on LC.

 

[saltming]

Leafs were actually awarded a loss yesterday because the league decided Sparks looked sloppy in net. I'm getting sick of the guy

That's a pretty nonsensical response

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

That's a pretty nonsensical response

the general idea that how steady he looks matters at all when he's winning and stopping pucks at a high rate of success is pretty nonsensical. he's stopped 72 of his last 73 shots. isn't it time to give him a break without harping on his rebound control?

 

[saltming]

the general idea that how steady he looks matters at all when he's winning and stopping pucks at a high rate of success is pretty nonsensical. he's stopped 72 of his last 73 shots. isn't it time to give him a break without harping on his rebound control?

Why not? I am criticizing his technique, not hi win loss record

 

[Paradoc]

Andersen always had better rebound control than sparks, especially by the time he got here. Also, andersen always tracked the puck better moved better he better save selection etc.
Imo it's not fair to compare the 2 as one had starter potential and the other has backup potential

I'm not sure about that. Andersen rebound control wasn't very great and he use to swim a lot when was he off his game, much like Sparks. We got Andersen when he was 26. Right now, Sparks is 25 and has a lot of time to polish his weaknesses. I don't see how you can say he has backup upside when he is only 25 and is already in a backup role. If he shows the same level of fight here that he had to make to get from ECHL to NHL, I don't see why he couldn't be a starter.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Why not? I am criticizing his technique, not hi win loss record

i'm shocked that the 25 year old with 20 games of experience isn't as calm as prime Roy in net too

 

[Boutette]

I mean, Carolina's been pretty good with McBackup in their net

Besides, just because their other goalies are crap, doesn't take away from McBackup doing well again.

And that's fine for McBackup. But he's 35 and a career backup. So he's untested as anything other than that. Sparks is 25 and doing better and has experience playing on a regular basis if need be, not to mention on a playoff run. Toronto is better off shedding the aged and promoting their youth. I do wonder how many good games Sparks has to play before people finally stop saying "I wish we'd kept McBackup." Does anyone expect that McBackup would be 5-0 at this point, because that's what he'd have to have managed to be doing better than Sparks.

 

[saltming]

I'm not sure about that. Andersen rebound control wasn't very great and he use to swim a lot when was he off his game, much like Sparks. We got Andersen when he was 26. Right now, Sparks is 25 and has a lot of time to polish his weaknesses. I don't see how you can say he has backup upside when he is only 25 and is already in a backup role. If he shows the same level of fight here that he had to make to get from ECHL to NHL, I don't see why he couldn't be a starter.

Andersen swimming was far less that sparks and fr different reason; our de left the backdoor open regularly for a while there. As for the other aspect of their games, andersen was never as green as sparks.
Can sparks become a starter? Sure it's possible, but very likely not.

 

[saltming]

i'm shocked that the 25 year old with 20 games of experience isn't as calm as prime Roy in net too

Again this post has nothing to do with what we are debating.
And just to reply to your post, Roy 20 games into his career was way better than sparks. To level the playing field, Reimer 20 games into his career, way better than sparks

 

[Kiwi]

The pucks hitting him and not going into our net
He's giving us a chance to win most nights
He's young with some room to grow

I don't see the problem here

 

[Paradoc]

Andersen swimming was far less that sparks and fr different reason; our de left the backdoor open regularly for a while there. As for the other aspect of their games, andersen was never as green as sparks.
Can sparks become a starter? Sure it's possible, but very likely not.

Andersen was more polish in his techniques, I’ll give you that. But techniques can be taught upon every young goaltender in the league. Just look at Hellebuyck offseason training the year before and how he changed his technique that relies less movement on his legs. Sparks, at the same age vs Andersen, was more athletic and raw so a good offseason training from him can definetly do wonders for him. I’d say that is why I think he has starter potential but it all comes down to his work ethic and how efficient his training methods are.