Sparks a big reason for success of Marlies, who open 3rd round against Phantoms

TORONTO — 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 laughed. “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.

The 24-year-old Sparks, who won the AHL’s goaltender of the year award this season, is a big reason why the Marlies find themselves just one round away from the Calder Cup final.

“We’re a pretty confident team,” Sparks said. “Obviously we were the best team in the league this year so we want to get through the break like nothing happened and just keep playing hockey.”

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The Marlies haven’t played in 11 days since a swift four-game sweep of Syracuse in the second round. The Phantoms, who are based in Allentown, Pa., are coming off a week-long break.

“(The break) wasn’t really ideal, but it’s here now so that’s what we’re focused on,” said Marlies captain Ben Smith. “We know it’s going to be a tough battle, any time you get to this point in the playoffs you’re playing a good team, and we’re excited for it.”

Coach Sheldon Keefe said the 11-day break was a careful combination of rest and recovery and then getting back to “some really hard work.”

“Now it’s business as usual, two great practice days, and two back-to-back games to start the series . . .  we’re ramping back up,” Keefe said after Friday’s practice at Ricoh Coliseum.

Whether they’re back up to full game speed, Smith said they’ll find out in a hurry Saturday.

“It’s going to be tough for both teams, maybe a little harder for us, because we’ve been off for a bit longer, but I’m sure the energy and the excitement will help us get to the level we need to be at,” said the winger.

This is the third consecutive season the Marlies have advanced to at least the second round of the playoffs. Sparks is the only holdover from the Toronto team that was one win away from an appearance in the Cup finals in 2014.

“We’ve had a huge transition period, we’ve put up great numbers the last three years, we’ve gone far in the playoffs and we’ve run into good teams and we’ve learned lessons from that,” he said. “And we’re just trying to enjoy the ride we’ve created for ourselves this season and play some hard hockey down the stretch, and just enjoy it.”

Sparks, who’s played in 17 NHL games (in 2015-16) went 31-9-2-1 in the regular-season, with six shutouts. Both his 1.79 goals-against average and .936 save percentage led the league.

Keefe said the Marlies are lucky to have a solid pair of goalies in Sparks and Calvin Pickard, who was acquired in a trade last fall. The two won the Harry Holmes Memorial Award given to the goalies of the team with the lowest goals against average, and Keefe said they’ve formed a “nice partnership” in Toronto.

“They talk a lot, they’re very supportive of when the other guy’s in the net, and they understand it, they room together on the road, spend all sorts of time together, so it’s really been a nice partnership,” said the coach. “And it’s something that I think with Pickard’s arrival and his approach, and the way he is as a teammate and the energy he has around the rink, and the success he’s had as a goaltender has really helped Sparks find another level in his game, and pushed him to be at his best every day.”

Sparks will debut his new mask Saturday night that is in part a tribute to Parker Tobin, the Humboldt Broncos goaltender who was killed in last month’s horrific team bus crash. The back of the otherwise blue and white mask is Tobin’s name and No. 30 and the Broncos’ logo in green and gold.

“Obviously after the tragedy all of hockey has been putting Humboldt stickers on the backs of their helmets, and I just felt after seeing just the outpouring and reaction to Parker’s passing that he meant a lot to a lot of people and I felt that a tribute to him was probably worth more than a sticker on a new mask, he deserved a nice paint tribute,” Sparks said. “He sacrificed everything doing what he loved and there’s a lot of people still with us that loved that kid, and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t forgotten.”

Sparks said one of Parker’s former coaches had reached out to him on social media about the gesture, telling the Marlies goalie: “That’s a really good thing you did.”

“I didn’t know Parker at all, I’ve never been out that way in western Canada,” Sparks said. “But I know what it’s like to be a goalie riding a bus in junior hockey and doing it because you love it.”

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press