Not long after an announcement that was the talk of the ECHL on Tuesday morning, Drake Berehowsky couldn’t help but smile.

Just a few days after training camp rosters were announced, it turned out the Orlando Solar Bears head coach and general manager had a big surprise up his sleeve: long-time NHL goaltender Garret Sparks is headed back to man the pipes at the Amway Center, where he’ll form arguably the league’s top tandem with incumbent starter Clint Windsor.

Still just 27 years old, Sparks is one of the ECHL’s and Solar Bears’ best success stories, having played in 47 regular-season contests with Orlando between the 2013-14 and 2015-16 seasons before going on to a very successful run at the top two levels in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, for whom he delivered a Calder Cup in 2018 as well as the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award as the American Hockey League goaltender with the lowest goals-against average with an incredible 1.79 mark. 

Consider he also brings 38 games of National Hockey League experience to the table, including just last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, and the move was a no-brainer for Berehowsky.

“It’s huge,” he told FloHockey during a Zoom conference with local and national media.

“Any time you can (make a move like that), it’s big for the team, I think. Our goaltending has been really good, and it breeds confidence with the players. When the players heard that he was signing here again, they were excited. They’re excited to play in front of our goalies, they like them all and they’re good in the room. It’s a real bonus for us, and for our organization to have a player of his caliber come back. He’s a pretty modest guy, but we’re thrilled to have him and we’re excited.”

The feeling is truly mutual, which wouldn’t always necessarily be the case for a player who had seemingly left the ECHL behind for greener pastures after his one-game stint during the 2015-16 season. 

But, coming off a year in which he struggled to find his footing at times in the Golden Knights organization — he posted a modest 8-14-4-2 record, 2.75 GAA and .908 save percentage while splitting the net with Oskar Dansk with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and appeared in one NHL game in relief — opportunities in free agency weren’t what Sparks was expecting them to be.

So, even returning on an ECHL contract, Sparks has a genuine excitement for what’s ahead with the Solar Bears, and says he isn’t thinking about using his time in Orlando as an audition to get back on a two-way deal.

“I just think that times have been different,” Sparks said.

“I’m a guy that loves playing hockey, and I haven’t been able to play hockey in nine months. I’m here to play hockey. I’m not thinking about what my next opportunity is going to be. This is my opportunity, and I’m going to enjoy this. Your career, it’s fragile. One day, you’re on top and the next day you’re in the gutter. You have to enjoy the moments that you have, you never know when it’s your last time, so I’m just trying to enjoy it.”

It seems as though an increased level of play this season in the ECHL — thanks to multiple teams, including the entire North Division, opting-out and thus condensing the available talent into a smaller group of teams — is something Sparks is looking forward to enjoying as well.

“This isn’t the ECHL right now,” Sparks said. “Just the level of guys in camp and what they’re bringing and their desire to make this team, you can tell that we have a lot of high-end skill in here and we’re good to be a good team.”

Mike Ashmore has 17 years of experience covering professional and college sports. You can follow him on all social media channels at @mashmore98.