The Toronto maple leaves still surrounded by drama even with Mitch Marner playing well in Vegas for the Golden Knights. However, effort and hard work remain a problem for the Maple Leafs. Maybe Mitch Marner wasn’t the problem after all. Instead, they sent him away and they see that maybe the team will always play a certain way and not change.
Saturday night, after the Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime to the Seattle Kraken goalie Anthony Stolarz mentioned the team’s efforts regarding the way they played not only in the regular sessions but also in the extra session, especially regarding the winning goal.
“I mean, a lot of guys have been here for a while,” Stolarz told the media on Saturday. “You know, overtime, you can’t just have someone stand there on the ice and get a clear break. I mean, another minute, if you want to be on the ice in that situation, you have to work hard. I have to work back and cost us a point there.”
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Again, this being Toronto, things were blown out of proportion, but he was right about the way Auston Matthews and William Nylander defended after Josh Mahura’s game-winning goal. Mahura started the game in his own zone behind the net and the goalkeeper Joey Daccord.
How could both Matthews and Nylander Mahura skate and pass the puck and start making plays? Jordan Eberle at the blue line before scoring the game winner on Stolarz. Both Nylander and Matthews were looking at the puck a lot. Nylander tried, but the previous offensive attack cost him something.
So it begs the question why didn’t Nylander change if he was so tired when Mahura had the puck behind his net to regroup? Same for Matthews?
It’s the same old story for the Toronto maple leaves when it comes to competition and effort. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. It’s clear as day. The top players don’t want to get into the dirty areas on the ice. They want to play perimeter hockey and then wonder why they’re losing when it matters most.
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While Marner deserved some of the blame, people see that he took more than he deserved when it came to the Maple Leafs struggles. This team needs a constant kick in the pants to perform and play the right way. This is a problem that has been going on for years, long before Craig Berube came along, and he can’t solve it.
But we shouldn’t talk about the same issues with the Maple Leafs every year. Ultimately, lessons should have been learned. The potential is there to win, right? Stolarz thinks so.
“You look around and we have it: the youth, the grit, the grind. We have the same intangibles and that’s why I’m so passionate about it,” Stolarz told the media on Monday. “Last year we took them to seven games, we were there with the champions. We are on the verge of great things, we can do it and we are going all out.”
Stolarz, who just signed his new contract with the club, won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. So he knows what it takes to win. It takes an effort every night to achieve the goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
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He shouldn’t be the one to inform his teammates and then have to clean up because the players can’t handle criticism. But that’s been the problem since this core came together. Players and coaches have had to walk a fine line about disrupting the ‘Core Four’.
Consider former coach Sheldon Keefe, who is now the coach Devils from New Jerseythe Maple Leafs opponent on Tuesday, responded to comments he made about the efforts of his players. Did he have to do that in New Jersey? No. Why is it necessary in Toronto? Comments like Stolarz and Keefe become dramatic because some players can’t handle constructive criticism.
Now Stolarz, Nylander and Matthews, along with Berube, had to talk about the comments the goaltender made Saturday instead of how they could become a better team. It’s a story, but it shouldn’t be. Todd McLellan’s comments after Game 1 lit a fire among his Detroit Red Wings players. That could have had an adverse effect.
No one knows what Stolarz’s comments could do, because they had to talk it out and say that everything is fine: “we are a family, we push each other to be better.” And the Toronto Maple Leafs absolutely have to be better. They got off to a good start, but at least Stolarz had his game in hand on the ice; the other two players didn’t really discuss it much.
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It will be interesting to see how the Toronto maple leaves Come play against the Devils on Tuesday evening. Something has to change. Everyone’s efforts must be better, including Stolarz. It’s time to back up his comments and not let them distract.
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