Keefe explains why the Leafs chose to call up Woll instead of Kallgren
Matt Murray finds himself out of the lineup again after a flare-up in his ankle during warm-ups on Friday night against Ottawa forced Ilya Samsonov to start unexpectedly. On Sunday, the Leafs recalled Joseph Woll from the Marlies on an emergency basis as they announced Murray will be out until at least after the All-Star break.
Woll who missed most of last season with injury and spent the first half of this season rehabbing from two off-season surgeries, is off to a hot start with the Marlies. In 13 games, Woll is 12-1-0 with a .928 save percentage and a 2.46 GAA. While Woll was injured earlier this season along with either Murray or Samsonov, the Leafs went to Erik Kallgren who posted a 3-2-4 record, 2.67 GAA and .898 save percentage.
Kallgren did an admirable job, but his numbers at both the NHL and AHL level, where he has 3.28 GAA and .871 save percentage, are far below Woll's numbers. Aside from the numbers playing a factor in why the Leafs called up Woll instead, Sheldon Keefe explained some of the other reasons.
"The start to the season that he's had here has been tremendous, and lots of reasons for us to be excited about him. He has been tremendously consistent. Given them a chance to win every night. At times being the reason why they're winning games. Since he's been healthy, he really hasn't missed a beat. So, it's a good opportunity for us to get him in here and work with him and get a sense of where he's at," said Keefe regarding the decision to give Woll the opportunity.
It also helped that in spot duty last season with the Leafs, Woll went 3-1-0 with a .911 save percentage. The Leafs and Keefe liked what they saw in him then with Keefe saying, "He came in at a time when we really needed solid performances from our goaltenders. As a young guy coming in with no experience, he came in and gave us really good minutes and kinda learned on the fly and just soaked it all in Our confidence in him grew a lot through that process."
Woll won't have to wait long to get into the lineup as the Leafs come off of their bye-week after the All-Star Game with a back-to-back against Columbus. I'd imagine that he will likely get into one of those games.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 30 | 208 ANSWERS Keefe explains why the Leafs chose to call up Woll instead of Kallgren How many games will Woll play during his call-up with the Leafs? | ||
| None, he'll only back up | 31 | 14.9 % |
| 1 | 50 | 24 % |
| 2 | 74 | 35.6 % |
| 3 or more | 53 | 25.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
