The Biography of Ash Sparks

[DarkSpyro 988]

Ash Sparks was born January 7th of ‘95 in a small town just outside Hamilton, Ontario- to a modest family whose roots were mostly dug into the music industry. Being the 3rd child in a family with 7 kids and having 2 parents that worked full time- made life very busy for Ash ever since he was a little boy, but he would still grow up having a fairly fortunate life. 

Ash has 1 older brother, 2 younger brothers, and 3 sisters- most of which ended up playing hockey or had musical talents with different instruments, or a mix of both! The Sparks household was always loud and rowdy whether it came to jamming out together- or playing hockey in the street with their neighbours. 

 

The 4 brothers were all skilled hockey players growing up and played at a very high level in their respective age groups! All of them were either forwards or defensemen except for Ash, who played goalie ever since he was 7 years old. His natural athleticism and fearlessness of facing shots from kids older than him, quickly made him a great goalie so he begged and pleaded with his father to get him goalie equipment for ice hockey. It took some convincing but after watching a 7 year old Ash stop shots from 9,10, and 11 year olds that played Triple A- even making some incredible saves that had all the boys cheering, his father would get him the proper equipment just before the summer ended and then signed him up to play house-league as a goalie for the coming season.

 

Ash and his older brother are 2 years apart so he would commonly watch his older brother play at the rink, but he would also get the occasional chances to play goalie in practices for his older brother’s teams. One of those practice when he was 11 years old, would impress his older brother’s coach so much that he informed the Triple A coach for Ash’s age group. He was then told by his dad that he was offered a try-out to play for the Hamilton Jr Bulldogs! Ash was nervous resulting in him having a very rough start at first, but would eventually find his comfort zone and his confidence. 

 

He would make the team after the final try-out after impressing the coaches, which would result in him being the back-up goalie behind their already long time starting goalie. He was thrilled as he beat out 22 other goalies, most of them being 12, including that team’s previous back-up from the season before! He was also excited to be in a tandem with 1 of the best goalie in all of Ontario (who was a year older than him) because he knew he was going to learn a lot from him over the course of that season.

(Ash Sparks at age 14, playing for the AAA Hamilton Jr Bulldogs)
 

The team would play 91 games total (including exhibition games against local teams) and Ash Sparks played in 39 of them- racking up a total record of 29-7-3 at the Triple A level, which led him to earning more and more games as the season progressed. Although he was enjoying his time and his family would come to cheer him in at his games, he would still go watch all of his brothers and sisters games whenever he could. Ash also got to play in some more practices with his older brother when they needed another goalie which gave him more ice time to improve.

 

This seemed to be the trend with some highs and lows during his playing career until he turned 16- when he got to play on the same team as his older brother for 1 season on the Jr A Hamilton Bulldogs. Ash would join the team to play as the backup due to that age group being filled with 17 and 18 year olds, but despite that his performances in net would eventually earn him the starter role for the playoffs and the following 2 seasons. 

(Ash Sparks at age 18, playing in the OHL for the Hamilton Bulldogs)
 

His older brother would eventually be drafted to the Florida Panthers in the 6th round, but when the time came for Ash Sparks at the age of 18 to be draft eligible- he was not as fortunate as his older brother. This meant if Ash wanted to pursue his hockey dreams; he was going to either have to play in a men’s league somewhere in North America, or play over seas. This is where Ash Sparks would play international hockey in Europe for the next 2 years before signing a contract with the Houston Bulls in the VHLM. 

 

The GM of Houston Bulls was in need of a back up goalie for his club at the trade deadline, and had noticed Ash Sparks when he and his team came to play a lower level Houston team. Impressed, he approached Ash after 1 of the games and asked “instead of flying back to Europe with them, would you consider playing as a back-up for the Houston Bulls?”. Ash was a little hesitant at first, but once he realized it was a chance to play even higher level hockey- he accepted his offer without further hesitation. This marks the beginning of Ash Sparks’ career into the VHLM, which would eventually bring us to the present day; where he a leader of the Malmo Nighthawks in the VHL and has been a fan favourite to many of their fans for multiple seasons now.

(Most recent Malmo Nighthawks “player poster” featuring Ash Sparks)

While Ash may appear to only be dedicated to hockey, he can be caught screaming metal lyrics while jamming out on his guitar quite often. Whether it be on the bus or in the hotel rooms during road trips, or even in the LR sometimes! He’s also been seen at Henrik Lundqvist’s bar in New York called “Tiny” whenever the Malmo Nighthawks play road games against the New York Americans, where he can be spotted jamming out as heard in this interview with the NHL Hall of Famer himself!

 

He’s a fairly charismatic and energetic individual which brings a lot of life to whatever team he plays on- often being the spark that gets his teammates fired up before games. He has a fiery attitude but if he maintains his composure he can use that to fuel his passion. He never gives up on a save and wears his heart on his sleeve, but can get tilted after playing bad because he knows he can do better. He is fairly good at staying level headed but once you spark his fuse, be ready for nothing to remain but Ash.

 

Ash Sparks has 2 younger brothers are 2 years and 5 years younger than him, so we could very well see another Sparks in the VHL some day as well.

 

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