Forever Friends in the Crease

[animal74 1,808]

So much time has passed since S86 when two fresh-faced Canadian netminders, Ash Sparks @DarkSpyro and Joel Castle @animal74 were both drafted by the ill-fated Geneva Rush in the VHLE. The now-defunct Rush finished dead last in the league that season with Sparks and Castle splitting the team’s meager 12 wins. But the losing helped forge a deep friendship despite being from opposite ends of the country (Castle from Vancouver Island and Sparks from Ontario). And that friendship continues to this day.

 

The 6^th (Sparks) and 13^th (Castle) overall picks in the S86 VHL draft find themselves in familiar positions as they are 1^st and T-2^nd in the VHL in wins – a spot they have regularly been at or close to the past five seasons. S94 will mark the end of the road for both goaltenders and they will renew their friendly rivalry tonight with the first of four meetings in this latter half of the season. To look at their VHL battles over the last seven seasons will show two fierce competitors that bring out the best in each other.

 

Sparks vs. Castle circa S86

 

Over their 20 head-to-head meetings, Sparks has come out on top more often with a 12-7-0 record vs. Castle’s Legion while Castle stands at 8-6-5 against Sparks’ Bears early on but mostly his Nighthawks. Sparks has proved to have the upper hand after regulation as he has won all five of their games that went past 60 minutes being victorious once in overtime and four times in the shootout including an epic 10-rounder in S92. Each goalie has posted one shutout against the other and 16 of their meetings have been decided by 2 or less goals. Sparks has won the last three head-to-head meetings last season as Malmo had Castle’s number, firing 13 goals past him in less than five periods.  

 

When asked if they’ve chatted about the upcoming games, Castle grinned and said, “Of course, we have. We’re going to enjoy this and have some fun. We’ll always battle hard but our goal this year is to meet in the Cup Final and have a chance to battle each other one last time. And after retirement, we'll definitely be getting together over some beers to reminisce about our time in the VHL.”

Edited June 17 by animal74

[DarkSpyro 939]

It’s been an incredible rivalry and friendship- with some fascinating history! It’ll be an honour to retire Ash Sparks alongside Joel Castle at the end of this season~ but first let’s enjoy and get excited for our final games that we get to play against each other! Best of luck tonight my friend, and let’s finish our stories with some more incredible games to go out with a bang! ️