Garret Sparks named AHL goaltender of the year

Not only will Garret Sparks be walking away from this season as an AHL first-team all-star, he was also awarded the Baz Bastein award yesterday, which crowns him as the league’s top goaltender.

Sparks sits atop the AHL leaderboards in goaltender statistics, and it’s really no surprise he’s been deemed the AHL’s best goaltender.

Many notable names in today’s NHL have won the Baz Bastein Award, such as Matt Murray (2015), Jake Allen (2014) and Cory Schneider (2009).

In an interview with Marlies TV, Sparks gave credit to the team defence he’s had in front of him, which has allowed the least amount of goals against in the league.

“You can’t win an award like this without a full team commitment to defence,” said Sparks. “I can count, on one hand, the amount of times we’ve truly been in a run-and-gun hockey game this year.”

Sparks also dished out credit to his goaltending partner, Calvin Pickard, who has been phenomenal as well this season.

“I’ve had a really great year, but he’s had a great year, too,” said Sparks. “I don’t think I’d be here without the help that I’ve gotten from him this year.”

The Marlies goalie tandem has been the backbone of their success this year, but Sparks deserves an extra pat on the back, as his season has been nothing short of stellar