'Did I Give It To Somebody?': All Signs Point to Joseph Woll Starting for Maple Leafs Against Canadiens But Craig Berube Won’t Reveal His Hand
Woll played two games of pre-season action, facing Ottawa and Detroit, stopping 38 of 43 shots against.
By Joseph Woll's account, it sounds like he'll be the Toronto Maple Leafs' season-opening starter against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
However, head coach Craig Berube wasn't willing to reveal the starting netminder just one day before the regular season gets underway inside the Bell Centre.
The 26-year-old has never played an NHL game in Montreal. He's been in huge games there, such as the World Junior Championships with Team USA in 2017, but has never stepped foot onto the ice in an NHL uniform for game action.
"You can't really get much better than playing Montreal in the Bell Centre," Woll said on Tuesday. "Maybe, playing Montreal at Scotiabank (Arena). It's exciting. It's a fresh start and clean slate, and I'm just excited to get going."
Woll described the Bell Centre as a "historical place to play," and referred to former Canadiens' goaltender Carey Price as his favorite player to watch growing up.
"I've been in the building. I don't think I've had a game there where I've played yet," Woll said. "But, I won World Juniors there, back a few years ago and had some cool memories there. So, it'll be exciting to get this experience."
With Toronto playing the next night in Anthony Stolarz's home state of New Jersey, you'd think the Maple Leafs would start Woll in Montreal and Stolarz against the Devils.
But when asked whether it was an easy decision to give Woll the first start of the season, Berube wasn't ready to reveal anything — something former head coach Sheldon Keefe didn't mind doing.
"Did I give it to somebody? I never mentioned nothing, but whatever," Berube said, before being asked if Woll will indeed start on Wednesday.
"We'll see tomorrow. I'm not jumping to conclusions or anything. I guess we'll see tomorrow. That's tomorrow. Today is today."
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said he's looking forward to seeing how Woll handles this season after dealing with a handful of injuries last year, including a high-ankle sprain and an injury which kept him out of Game 7 against the Boston Bru.
"I know he's worked really hard. Like, he's had a really good summer. He's really fit. We looked at some different things in terms of his mechanics and all those types of things and core," Treliving said on Tuesday.
"But he's always been dialled in with that. So, yeah, he's put in all the work. We're hopeful he can stay healthy. Stuff happens, but he's looked real good."
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