Sheldon Keefe provides concerning update on two Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs will enter tonight's "Battle of Ontario" with a lineup identical to the one they ran with before the Christmas break, during their 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. While the roster remains unchanged coming into tonight's game against Ottawa, we do know that Mark Giordano is not far off from returning and may do so this weekend. There are, however, other Leafs still sidelined that we await updates on, including Ryan Reaves and Joseph Woll.
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media on Wednesday, but unfortunately for the fanbase, he did not have any good news to deliver on the Reaves, Woll front. Keefe told the media on Wednesday that neither player is close to returning.
Woll suffered a high-ankle sprain on December 7th, oddly enough during a game against the Senators, whom the Leafs play tonight. Meanwhile, Reaves was injured on December 14th after colliding awkwardly with the boards during a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While the loss of Reaves isn't as profound as the loss of Woll, the Leafs certainly miss both players a great deal. We have heard, ad nauseum, about how much the guys love Reaves. His presence in the room and on the bench provides the team with a lot of energy. He's a voice that people listen to, so in the absence of that voice, the Leafs have experienced some very noticeable lulls of late.
Woll's exploits are obvious. He has outright come in and stolen games for the Leafs this season - both meetings with Tampa, for example. The sooner they can get their #1 goalie back, the better, even if Martin Jones has done an amicable job of filling in for him while he's been out.
Hopefully the Leafs will have positive updates on both Woll and Reaves within the next couple of weeks, but until then, they'll have to try to continue to weather the storm. A strong run by Martin Jones will help, but since there's nobody else quite like Reaves on the roster that can provide what he can provide, his absence will continue to be felt.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 27 | 749 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe provides concerning update on two Maple Leafs Which loss do you think the Leafs are feeling more right now? | ||
| Joseph Woll - and it's not close | 709 | 94.7 % |
| Ryan Reaves, for his leadership | 40 | 5.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
