Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

When Toronto's Backup Goalie Speaks

03/18/2019 at 10:36am EDT

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

So, after getting blown out by a very good Belleville squad on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday in prime time, their fourth consecutive soft effort before a partisan crowd, one could see how a spurt of raw Garret Sparks honesty could rankle those with more seniority.

“We need more emotion from everybody. We need people to get angry. We need people to step up and get mad and take it personally,” said the backup goalie, after appearing in all three of the week’s losses and giving up nine of the Leafs’ 23 goals allowed during the span....

“It’s been challenging. Me and Fred both have been trying to make saves for this team — that’s all we ever try to do. We know we’re missing some guys [Jake Gardiner, Travis Dermott, Kasperi Kapanen], but we also have some pretty good players in the lineup in their place, so we’re not going to use that as an excuse.”

The backup goalie’s comments struck a nerve for a fan base beginning to panic and a franchise that insists it’s not.

“A little adversity never hurt anyone” would be the organization’s message of choice to the public.

Had, say, Auston Matthews or John Tavares or Morgan Rielly demanded more passion, the echo might ring a little differently.

Any reporter who tweeted Sparks’ headline comments got ratio’d to Trumpian levels. A significant portion of Leafs Nation would rather the first-year full-timer stop the pucks than the presses.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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