Sports stats

AHL American Hockey League

Marlies' Sparks and Pickard, Rocket's Terry, Checkers' Zykov Win AHL Honors

April 15, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


TORONTO'S GARRET SPARKS, CALVIN PICKARD WIN AHL'S HARRY "HAP" HOLMES MEMORIAL AWARD

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... The American Hockey League announced today that Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard of the Toronto Marlies are the recipients of the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for the 2017-18 season. Since 1972, the award has been presented to the goaltender(s) with at least 25 games played on the team which allows the fewest goals per game in the regular season.

The Marlies allowed an average of 2.24 goals per game in 2017-18 en route to capturing the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL's overall regular-season champions with a record of 54-18-2-2 (112 points, .737). Toronto finished with the fewest goals against in the AHL for the second time in team history (2011-12).

Sparks, the Baz Bastien Award winner as the AHL's outstanding goaltender for 2017-18, was 31-9-2 in 43 appearances for the Marlies while leading the league in wins (tied), goals-against average (1.79) and save percentage (.936) and ranking second in shutouts (six).

Pickard, acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade with Vegas on Oct. 6, 2017, went 21-9-2 in 33 games for the Marlies in 2017-18, with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and one shutout.

The Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, which was first awarded in 1948 to the goaltender with the best goals-against average in the AHL, is named for Hockey Hall of Famer Harry "Hap" Holmes, a prominent figure in early professional hockey and an outstanding goaltender of his time. Previous winners or co-winners of the award include Gil Mayer (1951, '53, '54, '55, '56), Johnny Bower (1957, '58), Marcel Paille (1961, '62), Gerry Cheevers (1965), Gilles Villemure (1969, '70), Pete Peeters (1979), Pelle Lindbergh (1981), Clint Malarchuk (1983), Vincent Riendeau (1987, '88), Corey Hirsch (1993), Olaf Kolzig (1994), Byron Dafoe (1994), Mike Dunham (1995), Manny Legace (1996), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (1998), Martin Biron (1999), Cory Schneider (2009), Matt Murray (2015), Peter Budaj (2016), Tristan Jarry (2017) and Casey DeSmith (2017).

LAVAL'S CHRIS TERRY, CHARLOTTE'S VALENTIN ZYKOV CAPTURE AHL SCORING TITLES

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... Chris Terry of the Laval Rocket has won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the leading scorer in the American Hockey League, and Valentin Zykov of the Charlotte Checkers has won the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's leading goal scorer for the 2017-18 campaign.

This is the first league scoring title for Chris Terry, who completed his ninth pro season with 32 goals and 39 assists for a career-best 71 points in 62 games for Laval. A First Team AHL All-Star for 2017-18, Terry has skated in 500 career AHL games with Laval, St. John's, Charlotte and Albany, totaling 183 goals and 257 assists for 440 points.

The 29-year-old native of Brampton, Ont., was drafted by Carolina in 2007 and signed as a free agent with Montreal in 2016; he has 38 points in 152 career NHL games with the Hurricanes and Canadiens.

The AHL's leading-scorer trophy was originally named after Wally Kilrea, who held the AHL's single-season scoring record when the award was instituted in 1947-48. That year, Carl Liscombe broke Kilrea's record, and the award was renamed in his honor. In 1955, the AHL Board of Governors voted to name the trophy after John B. Sollenberger, a long-time contributor to the league as manager and president of the Hershey Bears and former Chairman of the AHL Board of Governors. Previous winners of the John B. Sollenberger Trophy include Fred Glover (1957, '60), Willie Marshall (1958), Bill Sweeney (1961, '62, '63), Don Blackburn (1972), Paul Gardner (1985, '86), Bruce Boudreau (1988), Peter White (1995, '97, '98), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Alexandre Giroux (2009), Keith Aucoin (2010), Brandon Pirri (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016) and Kenny Agostino (2017).

Valentin Zykov led the American Hockey League with 33 goals in 63 games for Charlotte this season, 10 more than he scored in his first AHL two seasons combined. Zykov also led the league with 17 power-play goals and set an AHL record for highest shooting percentage (29.5 percent), scoring his goals on just 112 shots. A 22-year-old native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Zykov also skated in 10 NHL games with the Carolina Hurricanes this season, collecting three goals and four assists.

The third-year pro has played 174 career AHL games with Charlotte and Ontario, totaling 56 goals and 46 assists for 102 points. Zykov was originally selected by Los Angeles in the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

The AHL's goal-scoring award was established in 2004 to honor Willie Marshall, the AHL's all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played; winners include Mike Cammalleri (2005), Alexandre Giroux (2009, '10), Colin McDonald (2011), Cory Conacher (2012), Tyler Johnson (2013), Teemu Pulkkinen (2015), Frank Vatrano (2016) and Wade Megan (2017). Other previous yearly goal-scoring leaders include Bryan Hextall (1937), Lou Trudel (1942, '45), Fred Glover (1951), Dunc Fisher (1958), Jimmy Anderson (1961, '64), Yvon Lambert (1973), Gordie Clark (1980), Paul Gardner (1985, '86), Jody Gage (1988) and Brad Smyth (1996, 2001).

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. More than 87 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sixteen clubs will continue to vie for the league's coveted championship trophy when the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway Thursday.

Check out the American Hockey League Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from April 15, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central