The Soap Opera Continues in Toronto

 

Photo From Daily Faceoff

Welcome to the latest episode of the soap opera that is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Seriously, play the Days of Our Lives theme while you read this — it’ll set the mood perfectly.

Anthony Stolarz went down with an injury on November 11th against the Boston Bruins, leaving after the first period. At the time, the Leafs refused to specify what the injury was, only saying it wasn’t serious and that he wouldn’t miss much time. You know how this story goes. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and the only update Leafs fans ever received was the classic, “We have no update.”

Finally, as January wound down, Stolarz returned to practice, and the team announced he’d been sent to the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint. When fans heard that, the thought was pretty simple: Okay, he’ll miss the Vegas and Colorado games, but maybe he’s back for Buffalo.

Then Friday morning happened.

On the same day Mitch Marner made his return to Toronto — because of course it had to be dramatic — the Leafs announced that Stolarz would be starting against Vegas. Fast? Absolutely. Questionable? Definitely. But hey, he’s back… right?

Fast forward to the game I was actually in the building for, and Stolarz gives up five goals. Is he entirely to blame? Maybe — and here’s why.

Near the end of October, when the Leafs were struggling, Stolarz spoke to the media and called out his teammates. I’m paraphrasing, but the message was clear: the guys needed to be better. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that — if you back it up with your play. When Sidney Crosby calls out his team, you know he’s going to drag them into the fight. When Carey Price did it, you knew nothing was getting past him the next night.

So what happened after Stolarz called out the Leafs? He left the very next game against Boston with an apparent injury.

Now back to Friday’s loss against Vegas. After the 6–3 defeat, Craig Berube was asked why Stolarz didn’t play a single game during his conditioning stint. His response? “Wasn’t my call.”

That answer should’ve set off alarm bells for everyone. Because if it wasn’t Berube’s call, whose was it?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Darren Dreger reported on TSN Radio that both Berube and GM Brad Treliving wanted Stolarz to play a few games in the minors — and Stolarz flat-out refused. Yes, he did practice with the Marlies; however, when it came time to actually get into game action, he wouldn’t do it.

If that’s true, then I sincerely hope Berube started him against Vegas with a simple message: sink or swim. And if that wasn’t the message? Then this organization has problems far bigger than goaltending, and they won’t be fixed until summer.

Anthony, I have one simple question: why refuse the AHL games?

Any goalie with common sense knows that if you haven’t played in two months — much of that time without even skating — you need game action. Practice doesn’t replicate pace. It doesn’t replicate pressure. And it sure doesn’t replicate NHL shooters bearing down on you.

So what happened in your first game back? Five goals against. Beaten on the first shot you faced. Rusty would be putting it kindly.

I hope that night against Vegas humbled you, because players should not be the ones making these decisions. That’s why coaches and general managers exist — to do what’s best for both the player and the team. If you get back to form, the team benefits. If the team benefits, they win more games. And when a general manager is paying you millions of dollars to play a sport, he — along with the coach — makes the decisions. If that means you play games in the AHL, then that’s exactly what you do.

Instead, your play was shaky before the injury, and in your return, it was — you guessed it — shaky again.

Hopefully you went home, licked your wounds, and let the bruises on your ego heal. Because a few games in the AHL to get your timing back might have done exactly what you refused to let them do.

That’s all for this one. Thanks for reading. And if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s this: the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t just have issues — they have serious ones.