Ash Sparks - Career Reflection

[DarkSpyro 948]

Over the many seasons of the VHL’s existence, there have been many goaltenders who have made an impact and left us with many enjoyable memories. For many Nighthawks fans, Ash Sparks has been 1 such goalie to the Malmo franchise but this wasn’t always the case. 

 

[S85] VHLM Drafted 15th Overall, 2nd Round by Halifax 21st

[S86] VHLE Drafted 34th Overall, 5th Round by Geneva Rush

[S86] VHL Drafted 6th Overall, 1st Round by Seattle Bears

 

 

VHLM Stats

[S84] Houston Bulls - [S85] Halifax 21st

 

Reg Season GP: 74

W/L/OTL: 40 - 31 - 3

Save%: 0.913

GAA: 2.53

Shutouts: 3

 

Playoff GP: 6

W/L/OTL: 1 - 3 - 2

Save%: 0.889

GAA: 3.98

Shutouts: 0

 

Awards: None

 

S84 Houston Bulls - Entry Season (pre-draft eligibility)

The Canadian born netminder played his first game back in S84 for the Houston Bulls prior to his draft eligibility. He managed to play in 12 regular season games, sporting a 9-2-1 winning record with a .900 save% and a 2.24 GAA while in the back-up role. He also got a taste of playoff action seeing 2 games when starting goalie “-“ was injured. He managed to win 1 game but sadly fell short in his 2nd appearance, losing that elimination game in OT. A bitter end and a lot to go through as a rookie in the VHLM, but this upset would only forge him in fire just before the upcoming draft.

 

S85: Halifax 21st- VHLM Draft Eligible

The S85 draft was a historic event, mostly remembered being the class this an elite group of goaltenders known as “The Heavenly 7”. These 7 goalies were almost close to the cap and showed extreme promise, meaning almost every team would be fortunate enough to have a top goalie for the season. 1 of these “Heavenly 7” goaltenders was none other than Ash Sparks, almost being overlooked in comparison to his peers when he was drafted 7th among them as the 15th overall pick in the 2nd round. Despite that on top of being drafted to a “weaker” team, Ash Sparks had a fantastic season in which he posted great numbers and delivered many impressive performances. He ended the season with a 0.914 save%, a 2.58 GAA, a respectable 4 shutouts, and a record of 31-29-2 during 62 games played. Sparks made it into the playoffs for a 2nd time in a row but yet again he did not find any post-season success. The Halifax 21st were swept in 4, leaving Sparks with an abysmal 0-3-1 record and a bitter end to his time in the VHLM.

 

VHLE Stats

[S86] Geneva Rush

 

Reg Season GP: 37

W/L/OTL: 6 - 28 - 1

Save%: 0.929

GAA: 3.73

Shutouts: 1

 

Awards: 0

 

S86: Geneva Rush - VHL/E Draft Eligible

This season was a rollercoaster for Ash Sparks due to the VHL and the VHLE draft. Being drafted last among the “Heavenly 7” in the VHLE during the 5th round as the 34th overall pick. This meant his time playing in the VHLE was going to be spent as a 1-b goalie behind fellow “Heavenly 7” alumni, Joel Castle, who was drafted earlier by the Geneva Rush in the same draft. Even though the team had no real players on a lacklustre roster, this strong goalie tandem proved to be an elite combination. Sparks showed how underrated he was and the lack of scouting done on him quickly changed. He was then drafted by the Seattle Bears 6th Overall in the 1st round for the VHL draft, higher than all the other “Heavenly 7” goalies. This would place a lot of pressure on him but also give him the nod that he is indeed 1 of the top goalies of his draft class.

 

VHL Stats (ongoing)

[S87-88] Seattle Bears - [S89-S91*] Malmo Nighthawks (Currently active on the S92 Malmo Nighthawks)

 

Reg Season GP: 205

W/L/OTL: 101 - 78 - 22

Save%: 0.924

GAA: 2.55

Shutouts: 15

 

Playoff GP: 5

W/L/OTL: 2 - 2 - 1

Save%: 0.922

GAA: 2.91

Shutouts: 0

 

Awards: None

 

S87-88: Seattle Bears

The first season Ash Sparks entered the big leagues, was by far his worst season to date. The nerves of jumping up into his role in the VHL, mixed with a few traumatic events leading up to it during the off-season, was a recipe for a disastrous entry season for the upcoming netminder. Sparks made 10 appearances during S87 and recorded some poor numbers in those few games. His save% was an 0.889 and he had a 3.51 GAA with a losing record of 4-5-0, which really was not the expect start of such a high draft pick.

The following season faired a little better, but not good enough to give any confidence to his GM for playing him more- leaving him seeing the crease only 8 games during his 2nd season. Compared to the previous season, he did much better with a 0.916 save%, a 2.36 GAA, a winning record of 5-3-0, and also got a single shutout for his efforts in goal. Hoping this improvement would give him a chance to make a run at being Seattle’s starter for S89, the GM had already given up on him. The former 6th Overall pick was on the edge of being considered a bust, so it was time for Seattle to move on and recoup what they could for Sparks during the off-season. This nearly made Sparks feel defeated enough to outright retire, but instead he decided to give Malmo a chance and proceed onwards to join his new team. The following trade ensued;

 

Malmo receives:

Ash Sparks - G

S89 SEA 4th

S90 SEA 3rd

S91 SEA 2nd

S91 SEA 4th

 

Seattle receives:

Ilya Bryzgalov - G

Rex Wolffe Gregor - D

 

S89-present: Malmo Nighthawks

Ash Sparks was longer a member of the organization that drafted him, but his new teammates would welcome him with open arms. His first season as a Nighthawk was his best season in his career to date, playing as if he had something to prove. Over the course of 67 total appearances, he managed a 30-26-8 record which would give a new light and sense of confidence to the young Nighthawks team who had been a struggling franchise for some time. What made this season so impressive was that not only was he playing in his first season on a new team, becoming their full time starter, he had some ridiculously good numbers too! Sparks was top 2 in the league with a 0.931 save%, top 3 in the league with a 2.49 GAA, and led the league comfortably in shutouts with 9 which doubled the next closest goalie. Sparks would become the top goalie for season 89 but even with incredible stats despite not being on a strong team, he would fail to receive a single vote towards any of the awards he was nominated for. This enraged and upset many but sadly in the end, Sparks got screwed over after a godly season.

Ash Sparks took a step back the following season due to some injury resulting in only 56 appearances in net for S90. He still managed a 24-23-9 record and had a 2.48 GAA with a .921%, but he only had 2 shutouts this time around. 

Last season (S91) was a rollercoaster for Sparks. He had a 3-4-1 record, a 0.880 save%, and a GAA that was over 4.50 to start the season. He then proceeded to go on a 10 game winning streak, followed by 2 overtime losses, and then another 10 game winning streak- going absolutely nuts in goal with a 23-4-3 record! As the season started to normalize, Malmo was still near the top of the league in points and would hang on till the end- finally make it to the playoffs. Ash Sparks ended the regular season with a winning record of 38-21-5, a solid 0.923 save%, a decent 2.56 GAA, and 3 more shutouts to his name. While Malmo would give it their best efforts, they came up short in the wildcard round to the Helsinki Titans who would end up losing to the Toronto Legion in the finals. A bittersweet end for S91 but Sparks would end up with a 2-2-1 record in 5 playoff games, earning a 0.922 save% and a 2.91 GAA. 

As this is being written during the off-season before S92, only time will tell how Ash Sparks will do this season. He may play till the very end, so a final update for his remaining seasons will resume on another article. To be continued..

 

(1,432 words)

Edited January 4 by DarkSpyro