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Leafs Captain Auston Matthews and Leadership Group Publicly Respond to Fiery Stolarz Comments

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Ryan Smitheram
October 20, 2025 (3:49 PM)

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Fiery comments from Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz directed at his teammates has resulted in Auston Matthews and the leadership group addressing them publicly.

Frustrated after Saturday's overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken, Anthony Stolarz publicly ripped into his teammates following the game with a very pointed rant.

"I mean, it's just playing hard. Maybe we can take a page out of their book and start getting to the net. For us, we like to go low to high and shoot, but for their goalie, it's like playing catch in the yard. You're seeing everything and we're not making it difficult," said the Leafs' number one netminder.

Auston Matthews Responds Promptly

While all of Toronto had the weekend to dwell on the New Jersey native's comments, the Leafs were busy putting out any fires in the dressing room, behind closed doors.

Auston Matthews, William Nylander, head coach Craig Berube, and Stolarz himself discussed his comments from Saturday with Stolarz personally speaking to Nylander after he indirectly, but personally called out the Swedish superstar.

Following practice on Monday, Matthews addressed the elephant in the room in front of reporters noting that the team has moved on and promises to be better in front of their number one goaltender.

"We're a veteran group. We're all big boys. You don't need to beat around the bush. It's an easy conversation we all had & you just move on, close the door ... We have to be better & we will be."

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Berube also addressed the media, noting that Stolarz should have kept it behind closed doors.

"It's frustration, we all prefer it stay in the room, but it happens, but we've moved on from it."

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In the wake of his comments, Berube completely shuffled his forward group on Monday, hoping to provide the 31-year-old with more support offensively and defensively.

The Leafs welcome former head coach Sheldon Keefe and the New Jersey Devils to town on Tuesday and you can bet that the Leafs won't tolerate any rough stuff when it comes to their starting goaltender this time around.

Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily

Maple Leafs Roll Out Several New-Look Lines After Loss to Kraken: Max Domi Earns Big Promotion

Craig Berube Makes Significant Changes to Leafs' Forward Lines, Including an Easton Cowan Demotion

Comments Made by Maple Leafs Goalie Anthony Stolarz This Weekend May Become a Bigger Issue in Toronto

POLL
OCTOBRE 20 \| 709 ANSWERS Leafs Captain Auston Matthews and Leadership Group Publicly Respond to Fiery Stolarz Comments Should Anthony Stolarz have kept his comments behind closed doors?
To an extent, yes	254	35.8 %
No, sometimes public humiliation is better	372	52.5 %
Everyone gets a freebie	83	11.7 %
List of polls

Leafs Captain Auston Matthews and Leadership Group Publicly Respond to Fiery Stolarz Comments

Fiery comments from Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz directed at his teammates has resulted in Auston Matthews and the leadership group addressing them publicly.

Auston Matthews Responds Promptly

Should Anthony Stolarz have kept his comments behind closed doors?