Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll blocks a shot from forward Easton Cowan during the opening week of the team’s training camp in Toronto on Sept. 18.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
For the first time in over a month, Joseph Woll was back on the ice with the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs at practice on Monday, and the levels of love and appreciation from the goaltender’s teammates was full to overflowing.
“It was awesome,” said Anthony Stolarz, who has started seven of the season’s first nine games in Woll’s absence. “Just seeing his infectious smile and him coming in and just seeing him back in the net; we were just talking how we missed our goalie hugs.”
Woll, who did not talk to the media Monday, has been on a personal leave of absence since Sept. 23 for reasons that have not yet been disclosed. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said that the plan now is to get the 27-year-old goaltender up to game speed, having missed training camp, and he added that a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League is likely in his immediate future.
“Number one, it’s great to have him back,” Treliving said. “I’m not going to get into any of the issues with his leave. I’m going to leave that to Joe at a certain time and he’ll speak … It won’t be today. We’re going to just let him get his feet under him, and when he’s comfortable to take that step, certainly he will.”
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While Woll, who last played an NHL game in Game 7 of the Leafs’ second-round loss to the Florida Panthers in May, finds his bearings at this level, the team will be doing everything it can to support him in his return to play.
The GM added that he has been skating “sort of every other day” for the past couple of weeks. Officially he is eligible to return from long-term injured reserve on Saturday, but Treliving confirms he won’t be ready by then.
“I do have a date circled, but we’ll have to see what it is,” Treliving said. “And so you have plans, and then you alter them based upon how things are going. But certainly, Joe’s a big part of our team and it’ll be good to have him back when he’s back and playing, but we’re not going to rush it. It’ll happen when he’s ready to go.”
Given some of the veteran leadership currently on the team, Woll won’t have to look far for support from friends and teammates as required.
Woll’s last on-ice game was the Maple Leafs’ Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers in the second round of the NHL playoffs.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Former captain John Tavares, currently one goal away from notching the 500th of his career, said that there’s a balance between providing support and giving space to an individual just trying to get back in the groove.
“I think he just wants to be part of the group and just kind of be himself, and we don’t need to treat him any differently,” Tavares said.
As the longest-tenured Maple Leaf, Morgan Rielly said that the support to be found within a locker room is one of the benefits of playing a team sport, and the Leafs’ locker room is no different.
“You want to support everyone over the course of a career, or a long season, or whatever it might be,” he said. “We all go through things; in terms of playing a team sport, you want to be there for each other.”
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While everyone in the Maple Leafs locker room was happy to see the return of a beloved teammate, likely no one was more relieved than Stolarz. Despite never having started more than 33 games in an NHL season, the 31-year-old was on pace to start 63 games this season, and his numbers have suffered under the workload. With just two wins in his seven starts, Stolarz also has a .885 save percentage, well below his career average of .916.
“Not too worried about anything like that right now,” Stolarz said of his numbers, adding that he’s looking to get back in the crease for Tuesday’s visit of the Calgary Flames. “For me, it’s just continuing to grow, continuing to build. I know I have better. I do feel good in there, and I feel like I’m making some good saves, but I think at the end of the day, got to make one or two more a game.”
Head coach Craig Berube tried to lessen the load on his No. 1 netminder over the weekend, giving Stolarz Saturday off, and recalling Dennis Hildeby from the Marlies to back up Cayden Primeau for the victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
“Mental break for him, I think he was thrust into this situation with [the] Woll situation,” Berube said. “So he’s played a lot more than he’s normally used to playing.”
With the Maple Leafs currently at 4-4-1 and Woll likely still some way out from returning to play NHL games, Stolarz likely needs all the rest he can get.