'His Demeanor Is Huge': Opportunity And A Calm Approach Has Allowed Anthony Stolarz to Become the Maple Leafs' Undisputed Starting Goalie
With Woll sidelined, Stolarz has been thrust into the lead role in goal and has posted a .940 save percentage in three starts.
One day before the regular season was set to start in Montreal, Joseph Woll was talking about how cool it would be to play at Bell Centre in a game against the Montreal Canadiens for the very first time.
But the morning of the game, Woll was unavailable and Anthony Stolarz, who seemed destined to get the following game in his home state of New Jersey, was thrust into action.
An unexpected start? Perhaps. But the 30-year-old performed well despite a 1-0 loss, making 26 saves.
Since then, he's made two more starts and has become Toronto's go-to option. Stolarz turned aside 32 of 34 shots to help the Maple Leafs defeat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Wednesday and improve to a 2-1-0 with a .940 save percentage.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsE3ZQzVrXE[/embed]
The key to his success? A calmness that the 6-foot-7 goalie has emitted that the skates in front of him have come to appreciate.
"His demeanor is huge," William Nylander said on Wednesday. Whatever situation it may be, he’s just solid back there and just a tremendous goalie."
Stolarz is imposing in the net with his obvious size but has always been agile to see pucks through traffic. His movement is solid and not errative, exuding a confident that has been appreciated by the skaters in front of him and head coach Craig Berube.
"Body language is big and composure is huge I thought Stolie had great composure tonight in net," Berube said. "They (the Kings) shoot a lot of pucks from up top and they got traffic all the time, but he was really poised in the net tonight"
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxTDbox8VmY[/embed]
Stolarz mentioned on Tuesday that the opportunity presented to him in Toronto to play in more games was "probably the No. 1" factor in signing a two-year, $5 million contract with the Leafs last summer. And while his ability has been evident, there was some question about how he would perform in a pressure cooker like Toronto.
"I think as a goalie, you can kind of control the game. You can kind of get whistles. And when the guys are watching you from the bench, you kind of want to be in control," Stolarz said about his approach. "And obviously, the other team, they're looking at you as well. And if they see you're scrambling, they think they're going to have some momentum. So for me, it's just about going out there, being calm, cool and collected, and playing my game."
Stolarz got thrown in unexpectedly last week to start the Leafs season between the pipes. But his calm presence has made him the undisputed No. 1 goaltender for the Leafs, even when Woll comes back, whenever that may be.
It's Stolarz' net to lose at this point.
Related
News from THN.com