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Minor Ex-Leaf News

Gary Roberts got hired by the Seattle Kraken as a sports science and performance consultant. I'm assuming his ties to Francis come into play there.

Still, looks like Seattle is building a good staff.
 
https://twitter.com/Canes/status/1319285826451243011
Their former Leaf collection is building up nicely.
 
Nik said:
Gary Roberts got hired by the Seattle Kraken as a sports science and performance consultant. I'm assuming his ties to Francis come into play there.

Still, looks like Seattle is building a good staff.
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Thats a long commute from his T.O. business.  Gotta admit, I love Seattle, great city.
 
Highlander said:
I heard Garrett Sparks signed with the Orlando Solar Bears.  Hope he can resurrect his career.
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I don't really care one way or the other tbh. He's not a good goalie.
 
I mean his NHL dreams are probably kaput but still signing with an ECHL team is quite the drop for someone who was the AHL goalie of the year just a few seasons ago.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I mean his NHL dreams are probably kaput but still signing with an ECHL team is quite the drop for someone who was the AHL goalie of the year just a few seasons ago.
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Yes, you are correct, but it wouldn't be the first time an elder 30 something goalie worked his way from the ECHL up. I get what Bender is saying, but Sparks is in fact a pretty good goalie. Is he NHL caliber? I'd say no. He's proven that he's AHL caliber though. Like you said, he was AHL goalie of the year. That does mean he's a pretty good goalie.
 
In a normal off-season, someone would have have signed him as their 3rd or 4th string goalie. Obviously, this was not a normal off-season.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
CarltonTheBear said:
I mean his NHL dreams are probably kaput but still signing with an ECHL team is quite the drop for someone who was the AHL goalie of the year just a few seasons ago.
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Yes, you are correct, but it wouldn't be the first time an elder 30 something goalie worked his way from the ECHL up. I get what Bender is saying, but Sparks is in fact a pretty good goalie. Is he NHL caliber? I'd say no. He's proven that he's AHL caliber though. Like you said, he was AHL goalie of the year. That does mean he's a pretty good goalie.
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Yeah but his character really put a bad taste in my mouth after a while. I really defended him a lot but when he started talking about how the team needed to play better when he was arguably one of the worst players on the team... Maybe it's just me but he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
 
Bender said:
OldTimeHockey said:
CarltonTheBear said:
I mean his NHL dreams are probably kaput but still signing with an ECHL team is quite the drop for someone who was the AHL goalie of the year just a few seasons ago.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct, but it wouldn't be the first time an elder 30 something goalie worked his way from the ECHL up. I get what Bender is saying, but Sparks is in fact a pretty good goalie. Is he NHL caliber? I'd say no. He's proven that he's AHL caliber though. Like you said, he was AHL goalie of the year. That does mean he's a pretty good goalie.
Click to expand...
Yeah but his character really put a bad taste in my mouth after a while. I really defended him a lot but when he started talking about how the team needed to play better when he was arguably one of the worst players on the team... Maybe it's just me but he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
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It's not just you. The Leafs felt the same way.
 
Bender said:
OldTimeHockey said:
CarltonTheBear said:
I mean his NHL dreams are probably kaput but still signing with an ECHL team is quite the drop for someone who was the AHL goalie of the year just a few seasons ago.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct, but it wouldn't be the first time an elder 30 something goalie worked his way from the ECHL up. I get what Bender is saying, but Sparks is in fact a pretty good goalie. Is he NHL caliber? I'd say no. He's proven that he's AHL caliber though. Like you said, he was AHL goalie of the year. That does mean he's a pretty good goalie.
Click to expand...
Yeah but his character really put a bad taste in my mouth after a while. I really defended him a lot but when he started talking about how the team needed to play better when he was arguably one of the worst players on the team... Maybe it's just me but he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
Click to expand...

I took more issue with your comment that he wasn't a good goalie. He is in fact, a pretty good goalie. If youre comparing him to Lundqvist or Price...he's obviously below their tier.

As for the character thing, i do remember his comments and didn't think much of it. That doesn't mean I agreed with the comments. But, being a goalie myself, your island mentality, sometimes turns into "me versus the world". Sometimes that "world" feels like it's your own team.
 
Man, it sure seems like Garrett Sparks made a bigger impression on some of you than he did me.
 
I remember him playing for Guelph Storm, seems a lifetime ago. Then his success with the Marlies, a Calder Cup and a shutout in his first game with the Leafs.  All seemed bright at the time. He didn't get much defensive support in his brief tenure that is for sure. 
 
Nik said:
Man, it sure seems like Garrett Sparks made a bigger impression on some of you than he did me.
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I got sucked into the "Did Dubas keep the right goalie?" debate pretty hard.
 
At least this solves the mystery of why Ian White's career ended when he was 28 years old. That's not even his weirdest tweet this week.
 
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