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Sudden Turn of Events For Maple Leafs on the Goaltending Front
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- Sudden Turn of Events For Maple Leafs on the Goaltending Front
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Just as abruptly as his leave of absence was announced one month ago, goaltender Joseph Woll has now, unexpectedly, returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sudden turn of events.
The Maple Leafs announced that Woll is rejoining the team and "will resume team activities and on-ice participation as part of the return-to-play process."
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Woll was retroactively placed on LTIR on Thursday
The surprising move is especially unexpected as it comes just a day after the team had placed him on LTIR, leading many to believe that it would be a long while before he'd be back. The LTIR designation means that he must miss 10 games and 24 calendar days from the beginning of the season before he's able to return. That would suggest, if he's cleared by doctors, that he'd be eligible to play by around November 1st. But whether he'll be ready or not, is another question.
The team revealed back on September 23, just days after the start of training camp, that Woll was taking an indefinite leave of absence to attend to a private family matter. Over the past four weeks, no one around the team seemed to have any idea of when, or even if , he would return.
Only yesterday, head coach Craig Berube was as dumbfounded as anyone as to when Woll might return.
Questions surrounded how the team would manage starter Anthony Stolarz 's workload, as he has been between the pipes for six of the Leafs' first seven games of the season. The stress might have gotten to him, as he called out the team after a particularly distressing overtime loss last week .
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The 27-year-old Woll will eventually be back to his 1B duties in the crease, sharing the load with Stolarz. Last season, Woll posted a 27-14-1 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. He played a career-high 42 games.
Stolarz's numbers are down this season, perhaps due to the extra workload during Woll's absence
Thus far this season, Stolarz was 2-3-1 with an .894 Sv% and a 3.01 GAA. Those numbers are a fair bit down from his league-leading .926 Sv% and 2.14 GAA last season. The hope is that the return of Woll can take some of the pressure off Stolarz and give the Leafs back the upper-echelon tandem they had last year.
Now that the Leafs' goaltending situation is 'whole' again, the next matter is trying to figure out how to get the rest of the team back on track after a lackadaisical start to the season. Toronto is 3-3-1 going into Friday night's game and a weekend back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres .
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Toronto had claimed former Montreal Canadiens goalie Cayden Primeau before Opening Night to act as a backup to Stolarz. He has played just one game this season, and his future is now up in the air.
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