Starting Maple Leafs Goaltender Joseph Woll Against St. Louis Was a Big Mistake
Joseph Woll's season debut was highly anticipated but he looked rusty in his first game, and with Toronto coming off a loss, it was a mistake the Leafs couldn't make.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have lost their last two games, being outscored 11-3 in that span, and showing absolutely no life or motivation on the ice. Against the St. Louis Blues, Toronto was expected to come out swinging not only because they want to put their thrashing at the hands of Columbus in the rearview mirror, but because it was Joseph Woll's season debut.
There was a lot of hype surrounding Woll's debut after being on the injured reserve since the start of the season. He looked rusty and not game-ready, giving up two goals on the first five shots he faced. Woll sort of settled in after that but still gave up four goals in his debut and did not look anything like the Woll of the past.
It was a bit surprising that Toronto started Woll, especially since they needed to bounce back from their worst performance of the season. It feels like Anthony Stolarz could have given the Maple Leafs a fighting chance at least, and even if Toronto ended up with the loss still, it wouldn't be as humiliating.
NHL Analyst Nick Kypreos explained previous to the St. Louis game that if Toronto was intent on starting Woll, they should have waited a bit longer for him to get more acclimated:
I had Steve Valiquette say my goalie is the best goalie in the league right now. I got a guy feeling really good, who's rested, we need two points, I'm not giving two points away."
I agree. Toronto was in desperate need of a statement victory and relying on a rusty Woll was not the right move. Anthony Stolarz has been fantastic for Toronto and has earned the #1 spot. If you decide to just push Woll into that spot so soon, it's going to lead to more results like Thursday's game. It's also of note, that Valiquette is a former NHL goaltender who is experienced and privy enough to know Stolarz's performance merits the starter role.
Joseph Woll did not play a good game on Thursday, and it's early enough for him to shake off whatever rust there still is kicking around. Woll needs to turn things around quickly though, or he's going to find himself out of the game quicker.
Or out of a job.
