Sparks needs to be better...

[Kiwi]

Sparks wasn't great last night but I struggle to see why he's the one getting kicked in the teeth right now when every single skater we had played as badly as they have all season in front of him

You've got your backup playing a b2b because of injury so they needed to stand up and make his life easier, we didn't, in fact I'd say we made his job significantly harder with our lack of urgency and unwillingness to get the basics right

Sparks isn't perfect but him getting the lions share of blame after that debacle pisses me of
It's on our coaches, skaters and goaltending but I'd like to point out that Sparks is a backup playing a b2b, what's everybody else's excuse for sucking last night?

 

[The Iceman]

Sparks has until the trade deadline to prove he can keep up in spot starts. I don't think he succeeds.

I predict he will be passed over and not be a part of the Leafs playoff journey.
No Sparks, no Oz, no GOAT, no Lindholm. All replaced by deadline improvements. In a perfect world of course.

 

[Drytoast]

Sparks was great for a period and a half. The leafs didnt offer gim any support and had no offense to get him somethig to work with.

Last night was on the entire team

 

[ponder]

I have very little confidence in him. He’s not terrible, but he’s definitely a weak backup. Too bad that we let a terrific backup walk to retain him, probably Dubas’ biggest mistake so far.

 

[hullsy47]

I have very little confidence in him. He’s not terrible, but he’s definitely a weak backup. Too bad that we let a terrific backup walk to retain him, probably Dubas’ biggest mistake so far.

bet u sparks or if its Hutchinson ends up with superior numbers than mcbackup
6-2-1 !
ain't bad for most teams backups the leafs didn't show up
nylander could've picked last night to look like pasternak

 

[robertmac43]

It looks and appears to some as a knee jerk reaction thread but it’s not. Win/loss record aside every shot on net is cringe worthy and was in training camp as well.

It's nerve racking now, but it;s one of those things that will get better as he gets more play time and through it gains some confidence. I think (and hope) that by the end of the year he will look calmer, his movements will be more precise, and because of this the rebounds will be less insane.

 

[ottomaddox]

How many 18-19 year olds goalies are in the NHL right now?

I don't know. How many?

Are you off track?

Was my point not clear enough?

 

[Gallagbi]

I don't know. How many?

Are you off track?

Was my point not clear enough?

Honestly, your points are rarely clear or worth reading.

I don't like Sparks, but he is a rookie.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

His rebound control is atrocious. Hard to imagine an NHL goalie like this (other than the terrible Leaf years in the late 2000s).

Keeping him was a move for the future though. So he has time to get better, of they resign him. But this is his chance to show what he has and so far it's terrible. He wasn't tested at all in the CBJ game and still let in a bad one. Don't even want to talk about the NYI game, at least he has the excuse that the team in front of him was terrible that game too... Still doesn't mean that he played well.

 

[ottomaddox]

Honestly, your points are rarely clear or worth reading.

I don't like Sparks, but he is a rookie.

No.

 

[The Examiner]

bet u sparks or if its Hutchinson ends up with superior numbers than mcbackup
6-2-1 !
ain't bad for most teams backups the leafs didn't show up
nylander could've picked last night to look like pasternak

He’s beaten:

Columbus
Anaheim
Detroit
LA
Chicago
Philly

Only Columbus and Anaheim are currently playoff teams with Anaheim barely hanging on. The rest are terrible teams that the Leafs should beat, regardless of who was in net.

With exception of Columbus and Chicago (who put up 6 on him), those teams are at the bottom of the league in scoring.

Hardly a resume I’d be proud of.

Anyways, numbers are irrelevant. It’s very clear that he is not a good goalie. He’s all over the place and can’t hamdle simple shots. He either gives up terrible rebounds or they go through him.

I don’t understand how people who have watched hockey for more than 10 games, do not see how flawed he is.

It’s an adventure every time he’s in net. This has been clear ever since his first game with the Marlies. It’s terrifying.

I’m seeing the same arguments we had when James Reimer was a goalie here and he’s 10x the goalie Sparks is. How did that turn out?

Those who fail to learn from history and all that jazz.

 

[DarkKnight]

He’s beaten:

Columbus
Anaheim
Detroit
LA
Chicago
Philly

Only Columbus and Anaheim are currently playoff teams with Anaheim barely hanging on. The rest are terrible teams that the Leafs should beat, regardless of who was in net.

With exception of Columbus and Chicago (who put up 6 on him), those teams are at the bottom of the league in scoring.

Hardly a resume I’d be proud of.

Anyways, numbers are irrelevant. It’s very clear that he is not a good goalie. He’s all over the place and can’t hamdle simple shots. He either gives up terrible rebounds or they go through him.

I don’t understand how people who have watched hockey for more than 10 games, do not see how flawed he is.

It’s an adventure every time he’s in net. This has been clear ever since his first game with the Marlies. It’s terrifying.

I’m seeing the same arguments we had when James Reiner was a goalie here and he’s 10x the goalie Sparks is. How did that turn out?

Those who fail to learn from history and all that jazz.

Anaheim was also awful at the time. He's beat three teams that have already fired their coaches, that bad. The win loss record, when you look at the teams, then the fact we're a powerhouse ourselves, hardly convincing. But, that's really all we have to counter the argument he simply isn't good enough, so I get it if you're so inclined.

As an aside, can we stop with the Reimer comparisons. I was happy when we replaced him, never felt he was a starter, but god almighty he's vastly superior to Sparks, his NHL career resume, to compare is insulting.

 

[eddieO]

I truly hope Dubas eye for goalie talent is better than this. Thank god Lou got us Freddy.

I hope Sparks gets better but if he doesn’t, Dubas better cut his losses and not hold on to him due to ego.

 

[Menzinger]

He’s beaten:

Columbus
Anaheim
Detroit
LA
Chicago
Philly

Only Columbus and Anaheim are currently playoff teams with Anaheim barely hanging on. The rest are terrible teams that the Leafs should beat, regardless of who was in net.

With exception of Columbus and Chicago (who put up 6 on him), those teams are at the bottom of the league in scoring.

Hardly a resume I’d be proud of.

Anyways, numbers are irrelevant. It’s very clear that he is not a good goalie. He’s all over the place and can’t hamdle simple shots. He either gives up terrible rebounds or they go through him.

I don’t understand how people who have watched hockey for more than 10 games, do not see how flawed he is.

It’s an adventure every time he’s in net. This has been clear ever since his first game with the Marlies. It’s terrifying.

I’m seeing the same arguments we had when James Reimer was a goalie here and he’s 10x the goalie Sparks is. How did that turn out?

Those who fail to learn from history and all that jazz.

The problem with the whole “ he doesn’t LOOK like a stable goalie” thing is the exact same thing applies to McBackup whose also technically very odd - and gives up major rebounds.

If he was above average in terms of technique and skill he’d be a starter...

 

[hotpaws]

Sparks is absolute trash

-can't track the puck
-constantly gives up huge rebounds
-worst technique in the league

the guys just an all around a brutal goalie and i have no idea how Dubas could watch him play for a few years on the Marlies and believe he could be a NHL goalie

 

[Rude Dog]

Sparks wasn't great last night but I struggle to see why he's the one getting kicked in the teeth right now when every single skater we had played as badly as they have all season in front of him

You've got your backup playing a b2b because of injury so they needed to stand up and make his life easier, we didn't, in fact I'd say we made his job significantly harder with our lack of urgency and unwillingness to get the basics right

Sparks isn't perfect but him getting the lions share of blame after that debacle pisses me of
It's on our coaches, skaters and goaltending but I'd like to point out that Sparks is a backup playing a b2b, what's everybody else's excuse for sucking last night?

Pretty sure most of the comments concerning Sparks has little to do with last night and more on the body of evidence shown to date. After watching him in the preseason I didn’t think there was a chance he would make this team. If you look at the collection of goals scored on him there is every reason to be concerned as a fan of this team. An injury to Andersen in the playoffs would be as bad as it gets.

 

[Ciao]

He's got a big lanky frame to play a modern goalie game but he's also got questionable technique and instincts like he wants to play a reflex goalie game.

He just doesn't have the reflexes and hand-to-eye coordination to do this.

It's time to find someone else.

 

[Kiwi]

Pretty sure most of the comments concerning Sparks has little to do with last night and more on the body of evidence shown to date. After watching him in the preseason I didn’t think there was a chance he would make this team. If you look at the collection of goals scored on him there is every reason to be concerned as a fan of this team. An injury to Andersen in the playoffs would be as bad as it gets.

If Andersen gets injured during the playoffs we'd be ****** no matter which of the guys we'd decided to keep, none of those guys can be trusted as starters and when Carolina tried it this season McBackup broke down

Sparks has been around league average over the season so far, he's 6-2-1 with a 906sv%, he's not particularly pretty but his record and sv% suggest he's being held to an unreasonably high standard for a kid trying to find his way in the league

He's been about as good as you could expect and its still not good enough for some on here, he's a rookie backup making 800K, let's get a little perspective here

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Said it before and will say it again, his record does not mean jack shit because he has very VERY little to do with it.

He has plays 9 games he is 6-2-1 but in 5 of those 9 games he has allowed 4 or more goals which is proof opf what I have said from day 1 most nights his offense carries him, and on the rare night that they can't he can't step up and steal a game.

good goalies need to be able to do that and he hasn't proven he can do that yet.

and now you can't even use the excuse that he has league average becaus he's not he fell below that against the NYI

Hopefully Freddie is back soon because Spaks isn't the guy the can fill in he's not that dude he relies on the offense to give HIM a chance to win h doesn't give THEM a chance to win.


If he was on anybody else but Tampa he would be on waivers right now but usually the offense saves his job.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

That is a good point its hard to improve on your game when you only play once every 2 or 3 weeks.

That is not an excuse that's called being a n NHL backup

 

[nsleaf]

This team could conceivably have 5 more points if someone else was the back-up.

 

[ACC1224]

If Andersen gets injured during the playoffs we'd be ****** no matter which of the guys we'd decided to keep, none of those guys can be trusted as starters and when Carolina tried it this season McBackup broke down

Sparks has been around league average over the season so far, he's 6-2-1 with a 906sv%, he's not particularly pretty but his record and sv% suggest he's being held to an unreasonably high standard for a kid trying to find his way in the league

He's been about as good as you could expect and its still not good enough for some on here, he's a rookie backup making 800K, let's get a little perspective here

Not as good as I’d “expect” and I’d prefer he’d try “to find his way in the league” in another manner. I’d have no problem if he came back after he has done that. Doubtful, IMO, he ever will.

 

[hoglund]

He was Swiss chesse tonight as every goal went through him.

He is not a good goalie. He plays for a very good team.

Only the 4th goal was soft. The 1st was terrible defense, the 2nd deflected multiple times, the 3rd was a great one timer and the 4th I would have stopped. No matter what you can't win if you don't score.

 

[indigobuffalo]

He was Swiss chesse tonight as every goal went through him.

He is not a good goalie. He plays for a very good team.

That’s true of every goalie, including Andersen.

The goals go through on every goalie.

 

[saltming]

That’s true of every goalie, including Andersen.

The goals go through on every goalie.

Not quite the same. It happens to every goalie yes, but the frequency at which it happens defines good from bad.
Sparks is very leaky, andersen is not