The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to a slow start, and star goalie Anthony Stolarz called out the team.
After Toronto’s OT loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, Stolarz called out William Nylander and the team for their lack of effort. He was also frustrated that he got run into by Mason Marchment and no one protected him.
Following Stolarz’s harsh criticism of the Maple Leafs, general manager Brad Treliving responded to the goalie. He felt like Stolarz was frustrated, and it got blown out of proportion.
“He was frustrated after a loss,” Treliving told The Athletic about Stolarz’s comments. “Emotion is good. He talked to his teammates, and we have competitive guys so it’s really not a big deal. It gets play in the media that gets blown out of proportion. It’s nothing more than, ‘Let’s get going.’ I like that our guys are competitive.”
Although some were critical that Stolarz called out the team publicly, the Maple Leafs general manager doesn’t seem to think it’s too big an issue.
But, since Stolarz called out his Maple Leafs’ teammates, Toronto has struggled. The Maple Leafs suffered a 5-2 home loss to the New Jersey Devils and are now set for a home-and-home against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and Saturday.
Stolarz Calls Out Nylander and Maple Leafs
After Toronto suffered an overtime loss to the Kraken on Thursday, Stolarz called out his team.
Nylander didn’t backcheck on the OT winner, and Stolarz called him out after the game.
“A lot of guys have been here for a while. (In) overtime, you can’t let someone beat you up the ice there, gets a clear-cut breakaway,” Stolarz said to the media after the October 18th game. “A minute left, you want to be on the ice in that situation. You got to work hard, got to work back and cost us a point there. At the end of the day, it’s about working hard, and when we work hard, the results come.”
Stolarz, meanwhile, said he knows how good the team can be so he wants the best effort out of everyone.
“Being here last year, seeing the team and seeing how far we were able to go,” Stolarz said. “The potential is there, we have the skill, we have the grit, we have the grind. It’s just frustrating that we can’t put it together right now. Even though it’s six games into the season, enough’s enough. We gotta start picking it up here. How many points are we going to leave out there?”
The Maple Leafs are off to a 3-3-1 start.
Craig Berube Wished Stolarz Kept it in the Locker Room
Although Trelivig was fine with Stolarz’s comments, but he wished he had done it privately.
Berube thought going through the media can cause some headaches, but said the team is all good after Stolarz’s comments.
“Listen, it happens a lot,” Berube. “It’s happened over years and years. Players get frustrated and sometimes they say things that they [should] just keep in the room. That’s all. But it’s over with.”
The Maple Leafs are on the road to play the Sabres on Friday.
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