TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have suspended goalie prospect Garret Sparks for violating team policy.
The team confirmed the suspension on Saturday but wouldn’t add any detail regarding why or for how long, only saying they would re-evaluate the situation in the coming week.
“Management has dealt with Garret directly and will have no further comment at this point,” a member of the organization said in an email.
Sparks, who has spent the season with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, didn’t dress for Friday or Saturday’s games and was replaced by veteran Jeff Glass on the Marlies roster. The fourth-year pro was unavailable for comment.
The 23-year-old Sparks, from Elmhurst, Ill., has only played four games this season with the Marlies after missing time at the beginning of the season with an injury. He’s 3-1 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
He made his Maple Leafs debut last year — a 22-save shutout against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 30 — and dressed in 17 games total. He went 6-9-1 with a 3.02 GAA and .898 save percentage.
The 31-year-old Glass has been with the Marlies since the beginning of the season. He’s been the team’s third goalie, dressing only for practices except for when Sparks was injured in late October.
Glass backed up Bibeau on Friday and got his first AHL start since April of 2009 on Saturday in a 4-1 win against the Utica Comets. Glass has spent the last seven seasons in the KHL.
Toronto originally drafted Sparks 190th overall in 2011.
