Members of the Maple Leafs Chirp Joseph Woll's Special Bubble-Wrap Treatment
With the Leafs giving Joseph Woll the bubble-wrap treatment, some of his Maple Leafs teammates see the lighter side and can't help but throw a few chirps his way.
One of the talking points heading into the 2024-25 season was whether or not the goaltending tandem of Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz could stay healthy throughout the doldrums of an 82-game campaign.
Stolarz was playing very well before he was forced out of the lineup due to a knee injury over 5 weeks ago. Woll missed the start of the season due to groin tightness but has been a mainstay ever since. However he's been kept out of practices recently, which apparently has been the norm for Toronto goaltenders.
As reported by Sportsnet's Luke Fox, the Maple Leafs have taken a different route with their goaltenders this year. Woll's injury history is concerning and with Stolarz already on the shelf, they decided to watch his workload and essentially give him the bubble-wrap treatment.
While it's all business from Woll who is 17-8-0 with a 2.69 GAA and a .907 SV% across 24 starts, some of his teammates have seen the lighter side of the special treatment he's received and couldn't help but throw a few chirps his way.
Leafs forward Mitch Marner joked that goalies get treated like NFL quarterbacks who are notorious for getting special treatment and extra rest, while Ryan Reaves compared him to oft-injured Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid:
Ryan Reaves also got in on the ribbing of Woll with his recent day off for load management:
On a more serious note, the betterment and health of the Maple Leafs duo in goal is of the utmost importance. Memories of Woll getting injured in the dying seconds of Game 6 against the Boston Bruins last spring burns through the minds of several Leafs fans.
As things stand with Woll and how they're treating him with kid-gloves since Stolarz went down, Craig Berube admits that he's consulted with the team's sports-science department and goalie coach Curtis Sanford on what makes sense moving forward:
Woll admits that it's not always easy for him to take a day or two off but it's something he's adjusting to and believes it's for the betterment of player and team:
While they own the best save percentage in the Atlantic Division and 2nd best in the Eastern Conference, they would much rather have Woll or Stolarz in goal this year than having to rely on Toronto Marlies' call-ups like Matt Murray or Dennis Hildeby.
A few extra maintenance days will help along the way and the 4-Nations Face-Off coming in the middle of February will help those not on any international rosters to rest up even more, which will only be a benefit for the Maple Leafs.
