Maple Leafs reveal plans for Hildeby and Woll with Stolarz out indefinitely
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs have revealed the plan for Dennis Hildeby, Joseph Woll and their goalie rotation with Anthony Stolarz still sidelined indefinitely.
On Tuesday, Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided fans with an update on Anthony Stolarz. Unfortunately, it wasn't the update anyone was hoping for.
Per Berube, Stolarz will meet with a specialist to determine the next steps as he has not yet made the type of progress the team was hoping he'd make. Furthermore, Berube revealed that Stolarz's upper-body issue was not related to a concussion.
Maple Leafs to balance starts for their goalies
With Stolarz not expected back anytime soon, Berube was asked whether he'll aim for a little more balance when assigning starts to help mitigate any further risks of potential injury. Judging by his response, we could be seeing a whole lot more of Dennis Hildeby.
"Definitely. I mean, we all know overloading them is tough a little bit at times, depending on the goalie. So, it's nice that Dennis came in and played well, has got some confidence here, and we have confidence in him. So, we have confidence in both goalies. Rotate them a little more."
Hildeby did have one very rough outing against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, allowing 6 goals against, but other than that, he's been playing at an extremely high level. Thus far, the 24-year-old rookie has gone 2-3-3 with a 2.60 GAA and a .923 save percentage in 8 appearances.
As good as Hildeby has been, Woll has been even more impressive, posting a 5-3-1 record with a 2.27 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 9 games.
After a thrilling 3-2 win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see which way Berube leans for the team's next game against the Washington Capitals.
If he holds true to his word for a more balanced split, we could see Hildeby back in between the pipes on Thursday. However, if the Leafs want to get Woll back up to speed after a 12-day layoff due to injury, he could see back-to-back starts. Either way, the Leafs' net is in good hands.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 17 | 1024 ANSWERS Maple Leafs reveal plans for Hildeby and Woll with Stolarz out indefinitely How do you think the Leafs should split the starts for Woll and Hildeby with Stolarz out indefinitely? | ||
| 2/3 for Woll, 1/3 for Hildeby | 524 | 51.2 % |
| 50/50 | 428 | 41.8 % |
| 2/3 for Hildeby, 1/3 for Woll | 44 | 4.3 % |
| Other | 28 | 2.7 % |
| List of polls | ||