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WELCOME TO SPARKY'S 22 HOCKEY ZONE!



the home of:


ROLLER HOCKEY
est. 1998





  • The rumors are true! The A&W hockey team has gotten back together!
  • New web site is up. Check it out: A&W Hockey Team





    • THE LEGEND OF SPARKY
    The inspiration for this web site comes from the most popular player to ever wear the A&W roller hockey team jersey:
    -Jim Thorpe-

    Although he was not even close to being the greatest player to ever play hockey for that team (as evidenced by only being able to score 1 goal and only get 3 assists in 42 career regular season games played) he is by far the most famous.

    The nickname "Sparky" came about one hot summer night back in 1998 before Jim's rookie season when he was practicing his slap shot under the street light. Jim picked up his stick and took a wicked slap shot on an empty net that nobody will forget. It was an amazing sight to witness as Jim's stick met the pavement (when taking a shot) and the friction of the pavement and Jim's stick meeting creating some sparks. Right then and there all who witnessed knew that it was a sign that Jim's nickname should be "Sparky"! (On a side note: Sparky missed that shot on net with no goalie when his stick sparked! This was also a sign of things to come as Sparky played seasons during 1998, 1999 & 2000 without scoring a single goal!)

    Nobody knows what the deal with the number 22 is except for Sparky. If you want to know about it you should ask him. Although, he will probably tell you about it even if you don't ask him.

    Sparky was drafted by the A&W roller hockey team to provide the much sought after stability to the defensive lines. Prior to playing in his very first game Sparky was talking with other future members of the A&W squad about how he guaranteed a 17 point season. What the hell??? 17 points "guaranteed" in a season that only was 6 games long??? That obviously did not happen as Josh Wright led the team that year with 10 points and Sparky came up 16 points shy of his guarantee by only getting one meaningless assist where he touched the puck and skated in a forward motion for a little bit before falling down and pushing the puck in front of him for Zach Wright to pick up the lose puck and score. Outstanding work Sparkles!!!

    From the Summer of 1998 through the Winter of 2001 Sparky anchored a relentless defense each season he played however he was never able to blossom into that scoring machine that he had guaranteed prior to beginning his roller hockey career. Sparky also provided veteran leadership in the locker room and on the rink as shown by the time he baby-bumped an opponent and said "You wanna go asshole?" and also by helping to make the goalies job easier by playing steady defense on the rink and letting A&W goaltender Rusty Streetman know this by telling him things in the locker room after games like: "You're lucky that I saved your ass so many times out there tonight!" and "You suck, Russ!"

    Sparky's favorite word to say is bastard, his favorite meal is a hot Turkey dinner, his favorite soft drink is Mountain Dew, his favorite beer is Labatt's Blue, his favorite smokes are Marlboro's and his candy of choice is Gummy Bears. As a young lad, Sparky had dreams of becoming the first left handed second baseman in major league baseball. As Sparky became older baseball became "gay" to him and street hockey became all the rage. Sparky actually began his street hockey playing days as a goalie. Sparky (being blessed with little natural goal tending ability) was always on the losing end of every street hockey game. It was here that Sparky would take on his childhood buddy Rusty and duel him in the battle of the goalies but every time it would end in defeat. As Rusty got better and better Sparky's talents remained the same. There was one time when Sparky almost beat Rusty. It was a game of 3-on-3 and Sparky and Rusty were the goaltenders. The first game Sparky lost 5-0. So the teams remained the same but changed their respective goalies. As the original team that beat Sparky by scoring 5 goals on 5 shots took aim at Rusty now Sparky felt like it was his time to shine (or sparkle)! Little did Sparky know that while Rusty would make save after save Sparky would eventually make zero saves again and lose this game by a score of 5-0 also. This was the one and only time that Sparky almost beat Rusty in a goaltending battle. After that Sparky decided that he would hang up the goalie gear and learn to skate and become a goal scorer instead of a goal defender. Sparky practiced many long hours and eventually felt as though he had learned the basics of street hockey. It was at this time that Sparky invented his now famous "Coast-to-Coast Jimbo" move. Sparky would take the puck from behind his own goal and skate the length of the playing surface untouched by any other player. He got all the way down to the other goal which was not defended by a goalie and took a shot. When he'd shoot the ball he'd either miss the net entirely and send the ball rolling down the parking lot or he'd bank it right off the post. This happened an amazing 12 times in a row! This move also made him a prime target for the roller hockey scouts who know that when you draft a player with a famous move you can't go wrong! Anyway, high school graduation came about and Sparky headed off to Central Michigan University where studying, sports, women, cigarettes, video games, pornos, bars, karaoke, condoms, alcohol & partying awaited his arrival. After leaving his hometown for his freshman year of college Sparky decided to work on developing a roller hockey physique. Sparky blew off studying to spend time getting into "shape" which resulted in his now famous baby. After obtaining stellar grades during his first freshman year of college Sparky decided to come home and enter the roller hockey draft. Sparky got his new nickname and the rest is pretty much history.

    "The Baby" was originated by former A&W roller hockey great Dan Pannuto. Although Dan Pannuto's A&W roller hockey career was short lived his legacy lives on through nicknaming Jim's beer gut as "The Baby". One spring day back in the year 1998, prior to the A&W team forming, several future A&W players played on a team together at Joe Dumars' Fieldhouse. Sparky went to one of these games to scout out prospective players he thought should be added to the A&W roster that was being assembled at that time. One of these players playing in the game was Dan Pannuto who Sparky thought had all the skills required to play in a league at U.S. Blades. After the game (as what had become a ritual to do after each of these Joe Dumars games) several players and fans rolled to Big Boy for a delicious after-game meal to talk about how gay the team was that they had just played. Sparky rolled along with the squad this particuar day since he was a wanna-be player at this time and he got seated dirctly across from Dan at the restaurant. The waitress thought it would be funny to give Sparky a children's menu with crayons to draw pictures with while he waited for his food to arrive. Sparky got pissed and called the waitress a "stupid bitch" and threw the crayons on the floor of the restaurant. Dan laughed at Sparky and picked them up and began to draw on the back of his placesetting. Dan drew side views of Sparky's shapely belly and asked Sparky how his pregnancy was going and what the due date of his baby was. Sparky turned red and began to call him a bastard and said he if he didn't cut it out he was gonna cut his ass from the A&W team. This made Dan laugh at Sparky and draw more and more pictures of the baby. At this time the food was served and everyone enjoyed. After the meal when Sparky stood up Dan began to rub Sparky's stomach and asked everyone if they wanted a turn to "Pet The Baby". All that were there tried to get a rub of his tummy flab but Sparky got pissed and was ready to throw-down. To this day several people still try to "Pet The Baby" whenever they see Sparky. I suggest you give it a try next time you see him!

    Sparky is also known as Sparkles, Smokey, Spanky, Skippy, Thorpedoe, Fat Bastard, Bo (short for Jimbo) & Grimace (as in the purple thing from McDonalds).

    Sparky's choice for the best pre-game meal would have to be a tie between his mom's famous hot Turkey dinner or getting a large Domino's pizza delivered to your door 45 minutes before face-off and eating it in the car on the way to the game and throwing the left-overs on the ground of the U.S. Blades parking lot as you rush in to get suited up for the big game.

    The moment we were all so proud to have Sparky as our teammate on the A&W team was the time he celebrated A&W's first franchise victory in the Summer 1998 season by downing a warm 24 ounce Red Dog beer in the U.S. Blades parking lot in under 15 seconds and then stomped on the can with his foot when finished and bobbed his head back and forth with a grin on his face while saying "What's Up Bitch?"

    Sparky's hall-of-fame caliber career came to an end in March of 2001. During his swan song season Sparky managed to finally get that elusive milestone he never could quite get no matter how hard he tried, a goal! It was January 17, 2001 and A&W took on a team called Moot Point. Moot Point was full of guys who sucked as much at hockey as good ol' Sparkles did. A&W won the game 15-1 but the score didn't matter as the celebrating began when Sparky put the puck past the goalie for the third goal of the game. The team celebrated Sparky reaching his ultimate life-long dream, scoring a goal in a hockey game. Since his very first hockey game ever played in back on July 16, 1998 Sparky had never put a puck past a goaltender. That was over 2 1/2 years of frustration finally put to rest with one wicked poke at a loose puck. This also ended his scoring slump of not getting 1 single point during 1999 or 2000. The 2001 winter season came to an end and the A&W team decided to fold and release everyone from their contracts and Sparky became a free agent who, to this day, is still looking for work. This particular season left 3 great memories of Sparky and his playing days with A&W. The first was scoring his first and only goal ever, the second was being able to see him prior to each game smoking outside the entrance to the arena with Tom the J.C.C. hockey league director and the third was his choice of rolling tunes, Shaggy's "Hotshot", which he would listen to on his way to and from the game and would sing in the lockerroom while getting dressed.

    Some places highly recommeded by Sparky to roll to after a hockey game to feed the baby include:
    Rolling to the Horn (Ram's Horn) and ordering a Southern Deep Fried Chicken Dinner with potatoes (MASHED!), and a tossed dinner salad with a chocolate shake and a mountain dew to wash it all down [$12.97 + tax]
    Rolling to Nash (National Coney Island) and ordering 2 coney dogs, a side of chili fries, a side of nachos, an order of cheese sticks to split with Russ, complete with a chocolate shake and a mountain dew to wash it all down [$17.13 + tax]
    Rolling to Ruby Tuby's (Ruby Tuesday's) and ordering a blue daiquiri that comes with gummi fish and licking the yummy blue salt on the outside of the glass. [$7.49 + tax]






    SPARKY'S FAVORITE WEB SITE LINKS YOU CAN VISIT:
    A&W
    Beaumont Hospital
    Berkley High School
    Britney's Spheres
    Cannibal! The Musical World
    Central Michigan University
    Cool As Ice
    Detroit Red Wings
    ESPN
    Ford Escort ZX2
    Grimace's Garage
    Grimace - What The Hell Is It?
    Gummi Bears
    J.C.C. Inline Hockey Center
    Labatt Blue
    the Man Show
    Michigan Lottery
    Mountain Dew
    NHL
    O.C.C.
    "Orgamzo 2: Trouble In Tokyo" Petition
    the Saddlehorn
    Shaggy
    Slim Ducky
    South Park Studios
    SPARKLE-MOTION Hockey
    Sparkler Safety Tips
    Tonic Night Club
    Troy Sports Center
    U.S. Blades
    View Askew