While Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube seemed to agree with Stolarz's words, he would have preferred things to stay in the room.
Two days after Anthony Stolarz called out his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates for their play following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken , his teammates have had some time to digest his words.
Head coach Craig Berube didn't like the comments leaving the club’s locker room.
“It's frustration, we all prefer to stay in the room, but it happens, but we moved on from it,” Berube said.
The coach appeared to agree with the sentiment behind Stolarz’s words even if he didn’t like the method in which it came out.
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews offered context for the goalie's actions, noting Stolarz’s competitive nature.
“I think you can appreciate his passion, his fire. I mean, he's a competitor and he's a competitive guy, and obviously we all want to win, and all want to help in that regard,” Matthews said of Stolarz. “And so when you have a night like the other night, frustration builds. We're all human; I think you can appreciate that. We've got to be better, and that's the bottom line.”
Stolarz is unlike any goalie the Leafs have had in recent years, described as the anti-goalie goaltender in terms of personality. He’s vocal on the ice and doesn’t usually keep to himself like some other netminders tend to.
“I think he's an honest guy. He just kind of tells you how it is,” Matthews said. “There's not really any holding back. He's pretty laid back in general. But when it comes to playing, he's a competitor and a very competitive guy. And I think you see that in the way he plays, in the way that he competes out there for us.”
Stolarz was critical of his teammates on Saturday after another incident where he was bumped by the opposition rather easily.
Following an incident that saw Kraken forward Mason Marchement bump into the goaltender with very little retaliation from the Leafs, tension fueled further after Kraken defenceman Josh Mahura skated by forward William Nylander. Mahura then beat Stolarz for the winning goal after porous defending from Nylander.
The Swedish forward said he hasn’t looked at the play since it occurred but confirmed he and Stolarz have communicated since then.
“It's all good. We're teammates, he's a great guy, there's nothing, nothing that we need to talk about here ,” Nylander said. “Yeah, he talked to me after and it’s all good, it's been no issue since.”
Nylander did understand where Stolarz was coming from.
“I think there's frustration maybe a little bit in the locker room. I think that we know that we can play better. I think our game's been growing and, I mean, we're still, what are we, 3-2-1 or something? So, I mean, no, it is what it is, but we're a tight-knit group, and we move forward from here.”
There was a lot said on Monday at the club’s first practice since , but the true effect of Stolarz’s words will be seen on Tuesday when the club hosts the New Jersey Devils and the team's response is revealed.
If the Leafs come crashing the opposing net, while protecting their own goalie a bit more often, then the impact will be there. But if the same play persists, then it could create a deeper slump for a team that is currently 3-2-1 in the Atlantic Division.
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