Insider Reveals Troubling Details About Anthony Stolarz's Injury History
The Toronto Maple Leafs hopefully avoided disaster as Anthony Stolarz is only listed day to day, but insider Nick Kypreos revealed there's more behind it.
Anthony Stolarz left Thursday's game against the Anaheim Ducks with a lower-body injury and fans were concerned another big injury will derail the Leafs season.
But as hopeful as things can be, with his injury being day-to-day, Nick Kypreos touched on Stolarz's injury history and how the past doesn't bode well for the future:
It's an ongoing challenge his whole career, his knees. What happened is he felt something and got spooked a bit and is just precautionary and took himself out.
Then he got some further testing, they say structurally you're fine. Let it settle, take a few days off, you should be fine. That's how I read the tea leaves today."
Anthony Stolarz's Injury History
Stolarz isn't shy to being bitten by the injury bug, as he's twice had surgery in 2017 to repair his knee, also missing the 2021 IIHF World Championships after suffering an injury five minutes into the game.
It's tough for any goaltender to get back in the swing of things after an injury, but for a player the size of Stolarz, it can't be any harder. He's 6'6, nearly 250-pounds; a mammoth human being top to bottom and his legs are his foundation.
If his knee gives him issues, that would prevent him from being able to use his huge wing span to disrupt opponents, and he can't risk another long-term injury or surgery.
His absence will be sorely missed as he's had a 9-5-2 record this season to go along with a 2.15 GAA and .927 SV% and with Joseph Woll has been arguably the NHL's best tandem.
Woll will need to keep his momentum rolling as he's won four of his last five starts and is only a few points back of Stolarz in a lot of statistics.
He is 8-3-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .921 SV% and has looked like the goaltender of old since returning from his season opening injury. Toronto will rely on him and rookie Dennis Hildeby in a reverse of the beginning of the year when Hildeby and Stolarz held down the crease.
The Stolarz-less Maple Leafs will head into Detroit on Saturday night trying to keep their win streak alive against Dylan Larkin and company.
