Woll will make his season debut when the club hosts the St. Louis Blues.
There had been plenty of speculation about when — or even if — Joseph Woll would make his season debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, it has been confirmed that the goaltender will be starting when the team faces the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Aren on Thursday.
Why is now the right time for Woll to step in?
"He's been obviously progressing in the right direction for some time now, and we kind of had this date picked out that he would get this start," said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube. "It was just basically making sure he's ready, comfortable, everybody's on board with him. He's been ready to go, and this is where we picked."
Woll was originally expected to start the season opener on October 9 against the Montreal Canadiens, but on the morning of the game, Berube announced that Anthony Stolarz would be in net, as Woll was sidelined day-to-day with lower-body tightness.
Woll later revealed that he had been dealing with groin tightness but chose not to share further details about the injury.
"He was disappointed for sure, and he had a good camp and was ready to go. It was disappointing for him and for us," Berube said. "But that's part of the game, and you've got to deal with it, and he's handled it the right way."
Stolarz has been stellar so far, with a 3-2-0 record and a .938 save percentage. However, with his previous career high set at 28 games in a season, the Leafs need to be cautious about overworking their goaltender.
In Woll's absence, Dennis Hildeby made two starts, earning his first NHL win in a 4-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils on October 10. However, the 6-foot-7 Swede struggled in his second start, a 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Hildeby was sent back to the Toronto Marlies to make room for Woll's return.
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