The Monday Marlie: The future is now for the Leafs’ affiliate
6 years ago
The Toronto Marlies prepared themselves for the inevitable departures of star forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.
Adam Brooks, Jeremy Bracco and Mason Marchment, the next wave of Marlies, weren’t supposed to be in-and-out of the lineup and treading on the team’s bottom six, for long. Once Kapanen and (more recently) Johnsson, were promoted to the Leafs, the Marlies three rookies each got promotions of their own, and they’ve capitalized on their increased opportunities thus far.
Take a look:
| Player | Before Johnsson recall (March 12th) | After Johnsson recall |
| Adam Brooks | 0.15 p/pg | 1.00 p/pg (7 points in 7 games) |
| Jeremy Bracco | 0.45 p/pg | 0.80 p/pg (4 points in 5 games) |
| Mason Marchment | 0.54 p/pg | 0.80 p/pg (4 points in 5 games |
Brooks is an interesting case. Before March 12th, he was deployed as primarily a fourth line centre. But in six of his last seven games, he’s been used as a top-six winger alongside veteran’s Chris Mueller and Ben Smith, the team’s second and third leading scorers. While the shift-over moves Brooks from his natural position, it has provided the first-year pro with a boost of confidence while playing in the top-six, plus, it’s improved his versatility.
“The more positions you can play, the better it serves you,” said Sheldon Keefe after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat over the Springfield Thunderbirds. “Whether it’s this league, or beyond, any time you can answer [a] question with ‘yes I have no problem with that,’ when asked to play a certain position—it serves you well. It helps us this year. It helps [Brooks]. We’re happy that it’s worked out thus far.”
To the contrary of Marchment and Brooks, Jeremy Bracco is a left-shot, so seeing Andreas Johnsson recalled doesn’t have that much of a direct impact on him.
But one thing to note; before Kapanen was recalled, Bracco was scoring at a 0.44 p/pg pace. Since Kapanen has joined the Leafs, Bracco is scoring at a 0.58 p/pg pace. He’s seen an increased role on the power play, and it appears the work he’s put into his conditioning has served him well, as he doesn’t get knocked off the puck as easily as as he did at the start of the year.
“When the phones ringing, you gotta answer,” said Bracco, of his head coach providing the young guys with ample opportunity. “When coach gives you a chance, you want to play well and show that you can be in those situations come playoff time.”
For Marchment, who recently penned his entry level contract with the Leafs, a concussion sustained on March 23rd has put him on the shelf for the time being. It’s a tough-break for the late-blooming Marchment, 23, but nevertheless, he still deserves a pat-on-the-back for his efforts as of late.
The more I watch Mason Marchment, the more I think this guy could turn into a really effective power-play player. He’s big, he’s got good hands in the tight areas and he’s got a nose for the net. It’ll be interesting to see if he can pick up some momentum on the man-advantage, once he returns.
“We’re going to give those guys more chances like we’ve been doing [as of late],” said Keefe. “We’ve lost talent, up front especially. We need those guys to be able to make progress.”
Keefe has long-preached the importance of putting young players in situations that they can thrive in. And that philosophy applies to the team’s late-season ATO signings, such as Pierre Engvall. Engvall, a 7th round pick by the Leafs in 2014, has two points in the two games he’s suited up for the Marlies, and he’s seen some quality usage on the power-play, too. In his first game with the Marlies, he skated alongside Miro Aaltonen and Trevor Moore. In his second game, he and Aaltonen were paired with Jeremy Bracco.
Keefe believes that putting young guys in a position to succeed is necessary to maximize their potential.
“It doesn’t do us much good to bring people in and just sit them on the bench and not sit them to their strengths,” said Keefe. “If somebody comes in and we believe they have skill and their really productive on the power play, then we’re going to use them in those [types of] situations. I just think that when you bring people in to be a part of your organization, you’ve got to give them a proper opportunity.”
Garret Sparks wins AHL player of the week
In three consecutive appearances for the Marlies, one of which was in relief for Calvin Pickard, Garret Sparks was a brick wall. He picked up three wins, one shutout and posted a 1.78 GAA and a .946 SV% in the process.
Just another day in the office for Garret Sparks, who, I think, is far too good to be treading in the minors.
RP74
After recording his sixth shutout of the season in a 2-0 defeat over the Springfield Thunderbirds, it was clear something was on Garret Sparks’ mind.
He answered questions with his head down and, uncharacteristically, his mind appeared to be in a different place.
In the short few months I’ve covered the Marlies, Sparks has consistently been one of the best quotes on the team. He’s engaging, he gives honest answers, and after a win, especially a shutout, he’s usually quite cheerful.
But that wasn’t the case after Sunday’s game.
After the line of questioning was over, Sparks asked reporters if he could say one last thing.
“I just wanted to say I’ve had [Marlies goaltending coach] Piero Greco here for a long time. Roy was one of Grec’s longtime students and he got him to the point where he was one of the best young goalies in the GTHL. Between me and him, we’re just devastated with the loss. He said something to me prior to the game today about going out and doing it for Roy and that’s something that just resonated with me. He’s a kid who put in a ton of work, loved what he did and never got to the opportunity to get to this point. So I just wanted to say it’s heartbreaking stuff.”
For those who aren’t aware, Roy, 15, was a goaltender for the Don Mills Flyers. who, along with his mother and sister, were tragically murdered in their Ajax home just about two weeks ago.
This one hit home for me on a couple of levels. For starters, I can’t imagine what the family is going through. These are human beings, and this triple-homicide is something that’s bigger than hockey. I feel for the sister who lost her siblings and mother. I feel for the father who lost two of his kids, and the mother of his children.
And on a personal level, this struck a chord with me, too.
My long-time best friend was a high-calibre goalie all throughout our childhood, and he played in a comparable league to the GTHL, but in Manitoba. After hearing of Roy’s death, I had a nightmare that my best friend had been murdered. That chilling-thought has had me on-edge for quite some time and It’s gut-wrenching to think about what Roy’s teammates are going through. They aren’t having a bad nightmare about their friend being murdered. It’s actually happening to them, and I can’t even begin to explain how much I feel for those young kids.
Listen, I really hate to do this, because I understand that people’s financial situation’s vary–but if you can spare some money, I’d recommend you check out this GoFundMe page set up for the family.
RIP74.
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