There is not a team in the NHL under more pressure every year than the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only because they play in a hockey-mad market that is still craving its first championship since the Original Six days, but also because this current core has repeatedly failed to live up to expectations every year.
It has not taken long for the pressure to start to get to them this season, and it resulted in goalie Anthony Stolarz absolutely ripping into his teammates following Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Anthony Stolarz was livid with the way his team played in front of him
There really was not any aspect of the Maple Leafs game on Saturday night that Stolarz was happy with, and it seems to be something that has been gnawing at him all season.
He was mad that Kraken forward Mason Marchment plowed into him, resulting in him having to stand up for himself.
He was mad about how Seattle outplayed Toronto for most of the night.
He was upset with how Seattle’s goalie had clear looks at shots, while he had to deal with constant traffic in front of his net.
He was not really wrong about any of it.
His full comments, via The Athletic:
“I thought the first two periods we kinda let them walk all over us,” Stolarz said of the 4-3 loss. “They outworked us in front of the net. They blocked shots, they beat us up and down the ice and the score was indicative of that.
“They just outworked us, plain and simple.”
He continued with what he wants to see out of his teammates in future games.
“I think we gotta start going to the cage a little harder, make it harder for their goalies,” Stolarz said. “It’s not fun — I don’t like having 225-pound guys laying on me. Hopefully we learn a lesson here.
But for their goalie, it’s like playing catch in the yard. He’s seeing everything. We’re not making it difficult,” said Stolarz of the team’s play around the opposition net. “We made it difficult in the third (period) and look what happened. We came out, tied the game, got a point out of it, almost scored with five seconds left. But it’s too little, too late. We’re six games into the season.
“Enough’s enough. We kinda got to start picking it up here.”
Those are some harsh words and a lot of frustration for being just six games into the season. Especially when even with Saturday’s loss they are still 3-2-1 in the standings. So it is not like the season has been a total disappointment to this point. They are still getting some results. But the fact that Stolarz is willing to speak up so much this early in the season is a pretty good indicator of two things.
The first is simply his own mindset and willingness to take on a leadership role. This is only his second season with the Maple Leafs, but he has something that pretty much every player on this team is still seeking — a Stanley Cup ring, which he got as a backup goalie for the 2023-24 Florida Panthers. He knows what it takes to win, and he knows the style of play a winning team needs to play.
The second is that it speaks to the pressure this Toronto team is always under.
The Maple Leafs have been a playoff team every year since the 2016-17 season, and despite being a preseason Stanley Cup contender for almost all of those years, they have only won two playoff series in that time. It’s simply not good enough for the talent and payroll they have accumulated at the top of the roster.
They already made one big change to that core this offseason by letting forward Mitch Marner leave. Another disappointing season will almost certainly result in more changes.
