The Toronto Maple Leafs revealed some unexpected news on Tuesday when they announced that goaltender Joseph Woll had stepped away to deal with a personal family issue.
While there is no timeline for his return, nor is a reason given for what occurred, the team has requested privacy for him and his family at this time. Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving made a point to mention that the issue Woll had to attend to has nothing to do with substance abuse.
Upon learning the news, several Maple Leafs expressed their support for their goaltender.
Matthews Knies
“We're all here for him and feel for him. And we're just going to try our best to support him and kind of give him space and let him kind of take this on his own. But we're always there for him, and yeah, I wish him the best.”
Knies, who is close with Woll, added that he had not been in touch with Woll since learning of the news but he was about to reach out shortly after speaking to the media following his morning skate session ahead of their game against the Ottawa Senators.
“Hopefully, he's doing good.”
Dennis Hildeby
“I don't know too much about it I just know we we love Joe and we're here to support him and hope he gets back as soon as possible.”
Head Coach Craig Berube
“It's obviously a tough situation for him. And we're all here to support him, do what we can to help him. Yeah, that's really it. So he needs to do what he needs to do. And like I said, we're all thinking about him. We miss him. And we're all here to support him as best we can.”
Nicolas Roy
“I don't really know completely exactly what's going on there, but just wish him the best. He's a great guy. I mean, just, like I said, wish him the best.”
Anthony Stolarz
“Obviously the team is here to support him and, you know, take his time. And whenever he decides to come back and we're welcome with open arms. And, you know, we know Joe and we know he's going to be ready to go.”
Brandon Carlo
“I think initially you just think about the human being and we all love Joe. Love what he brings to this group and all we care about is human being in that regard. So look out for him in every way that we can and just be here for him when he needs us.”
Jake McCabe
“Thinking about Joe. We love Joe and yeah, always thinking about him and looking forward to whenever he comes back.”
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