Never a dull day in Leafs Nation —that’s for sure.
Just hours before the season opener in Montreal, Craig Berube hit us with a bombshell at Wednesday’s morning skate: Joseph Woll will not play due to lower body tightness. Instead, Anthony Stolarz will make his Maple Leafs debut. Here. We. Go. Again.
Obviously, that’s where the conversation started on the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. After what happened prior to Game 7, this is the last thing Toronto needed with regards to its crease. Unfortunately, early on his NHL career, Woll has been unable to stay healthy. It’s too bad, because he’s really damn good.
Brought to you by Square, we kicked things off by diving into the nuts and bolts of the opener against the Canadiens. After months of anticipation, Craig Berube will finally make his debut behind the bench. On top of that, a host of others will be making their on-ice debuts. All in all, there’s a lot of positivity and optimism surrounding the team entering the 2024-25 campaign. Additionally, we discussed whether Ryan Reaves and Arber Xhekaj will get together. Furthermore, will there be any bad blood as a follow up to the preseason tilt where the Habs lost Patrik Laine for an extended period of time? For what it’s worth, my money’s on these two throwing down.
Additionally, we addressed tonight’s projected lineup. Aside from the Woll news, Bobby McMann and Timothy Liljegren are expected to be healthy scratches. Also, Dennis Hildeby, who’s yet to make his NHL debut, was recalled this morning and is expected to back-up Stolarz. After that, we got into the Great Clips inbox question of the week. Someone in the chat asked Rosey what it was like to play at the Bell Centre in Montreal. My two cents: The press box hot dogs are phenomenal.
We’ll be back on Thursday at 11 AM ET to break down the opener plus look ahead to the second half of the back-to-back in New Jersey against Sheldon Keefe’s Devils.
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