Goaltending in hockey can be a lonely and remorseless occupation for any player without the mental fortitude to take the good of the job with the bad.
Jimmy Spratt has learned this first-hand through his own roller coaster ride of ups and downs as BG’s goalie for nearly two seasons now, and he is becoming a better player because of it.
Recruited to fill the void left by perhaps the Falcons’ most accomplished goalie in school history, Jordan Sigalet, Spratt has had little time to shrink away from the bright lights that shine constantly on starting goalies in the CCHA.
Not that Spratt would ever think of stepping out of that spotlight.
“It’s a pretty big task,” said the sophomore from Chesterfield, Mich.. “I just try to not let the guys down and go out there and give it my best. I want to be the guy to go out there and my teammates have complete trust in me that I’ll get the job done.”
Spratt’s teammates and coaches have had good reason to believe Spratt will keep BG in any game they play of late, stepping up his play after struggling to the mid-point of the season.
In the last two weekends (Alaska and Notre Dame), Spratt holds a 2.97 goals against average and a .910 save percentage, making 122 saves on 134 shots faced. Only four of those goals that Spratt has allowed have come while BG was at even strength.
According to Spratt’s coach, Scott Paluch, one of the reasons the 6-foot-1, 183 pound goalie has improved his play is his willingness to take accountability for his own play rather than finding excuses when things are not going well.
“Jimmy’s been extremely good at accepting the responsibility of goaltending,” Paluch said. “There’s no pointing fingers and there’s no looking for other ways out of it. When goals have gone in Jimmy has been ‘I’ll take responsibility, now what do I have to do to fix it.'”
Taking responsibility for shortcomings in games was something that Spratt was not used to coming into his career at BG.
Drafted in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames, Spratt concluded his junior career at Sioux City with two United States Hockey League All-Star Game appearances and a goals against average just over 2.5.
Since arriving at BG, Spratt has struggled along with his team, compiling a personal record of 8-27-2 and a .871 saves percentage in 40 career games played.
Low goal scoring by the Falcons themselves (1.8 per game this season) has also affected Spratt’s numbers. Still, he remains optimistic and focuses on his own performance.
“You can’t dwell on it when you let up a goal or things aren’t going well,” Spratt said. “You just have to do your job and not let up any soft goals” You can’t control how many goals your team scores you just have continue to work hard [and] keep moving forward.”
Spratt’s ability to continue to keep forging ahead was tested earlier this season when freshman backup Eddie Neville began to split time in the BG net. However, Spratt has regained his old form of late and there is little question to who the man is for the Falcons goaltending position now.
“It does a lot for your confidence when you have a bad game and coach puts you out there the next night,” said Spratt. “It makes you work that much harder to prove that you belong.”
For Paluch and the coaching staff, they know Spratt is still early on in his career here at BG, and can relate his situation with that of the most recent Falcon goaltender great.
“When you go back and look at [Sigalet’s] results for the games he played his first year, those were not leading you to what we saw over the course of his development, becoming one of the top goalies ever to play here,” Paluch said. “It’s important at that position to see a full body of work and that’s what we’re seeing with Jimmy right now, he’s a work in progress.”
