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Ex-NHLer Makes a Wild Suggestion That Could Benefit the Maple Leafs in the Playoffs
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the enviable position of having two quality goaltenders and one former Leaf has suggested that they use it to their benefit.
When fully healthy, the Maple Leafs have made it a point to split the starts as evenly as possible between Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll.
While Craig Berube has gone on record in recent weeks, suggesting that he would like to crown a starting goalie for the playoffs, there are a lot of questions arising over who might have the edge at the moment.
Recently, Woll has received a bit of a larger workload, starting 3 of 4 games last week, but Berube has since come forward and established that he intends to continue running them as a tandem for the foreseeable future.
This week, however, former Maple Leaf Jeff O'Neill made some very public comments about the idea of the Leafs continuing to run a tandem in the playoffs as opposed to naming a starter, like Berube wants to do.
"I've gotta say one thing; I thought it was insane to even think about a two-goalie kind of rotation in the playoffs, but if that's what these guys want, man, go for it. Go nuts. Have at it. If that's what they want to do and they play better with [a rotation] -- I've always said, if you've got two guys, you don't have one, I hate it, I think it's stupid -- but I'm almost on board with it if that's what they need."
The TSN OverDrive panel also mentioned the fact that the Bruins did something similar with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, so it's not entirely unheard of.
Towards the end of the segment, O'Neill did jokingly back off of this train of thought, but his initial sentiments regarding whether or not to continue on with the rotation in the playoffs is certainly some food for thought, especially given the fact that the Leafs have experienced some success running two goalies this season with very few stints where they've lost 3 games in a row.
As far as tonight's matchup with Philadelphia at Scotiabank Arena goes, it will be Stolarz tending the twine for the Leafs, which could line up a very busy week for him with 3 more games on the slate after this one.
After matchups ahainst San Jose and Los Angeles, the Leafs will close out a 3-game road trip on Sunday in Anaheim. We should not be surprised if we see Stolarz pick up 3 starts this week, just as Woll had done last week.
| POLL | ||
MARS 25 | 2543 ANSWERS Ex-NHLer Makes a Wild Suggestion That Could Benefit the Maple Leafs in the Playoffs Should the Leafs roll with a tandem in the playoffs, splitting starts between Woll and Stolarz? | ||
| Yes, split the starts | 1428 | 56.2 % |
| No, we need one designated starter | 1115 | 43.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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