Anthony Stolarz’s hopes he’s lit a flame under lethargic Maple Leafs

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The last Maple Leaf goalie to call out his team, as Anthony Stolarz did on Saturday, was never heard from again.

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Coach Mike Babcock's forehead must have turned as red as his mane when he heard a young Garrett Sparks tell the media that the Leafs needed to show more emotion in 2019 after a season-ending loss to Ottawa. He removed Sparks from the practice squad.

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But Stolarz is not a kid trying to make a name for himself in the NHL. He's 31 years old and part of Florida's 2024 Stanley Cup team that has found success with a pack mentality. They unleashed hell on their opponent's goal, defending their bread and butter, Stolarz's more famous stablemate Sergei Bobrovsky.

When the Kraken's Mason Marchment knocked him down, the latest in a series of attempts to unnerve him, stemming from Adam Bennett's accidental elbow that scratched him during last spring's playoffs, the Jersey Giant had enough.

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Without waiting for Marchment to get out of the twisted splits (Leaf defenseman Brandon Carlo was looming over him, giving him that courtesy), the 6-foot-6 Stolarz flipped the net, setting the Kraken up to attack.

Stolarz was still in battle mode when he later faced the press: a two-minute, 30-second evisceration of their sluggish start (3-2-1), upset that they hadn't caused the same grief to opposing goalies, and finally their soft play with the 4-3 overtime winner, when William Nylander waved at Josh Mahura walking straight down the field. Lakeshore, his first goal in two years.

On a team unaccustomed to such outspokenness, Stolarz looked and sounded like a team captain (goalie John Ross Roach won a title with the Toronto St. Pats 99 years ago—a rant the team needed to hear). Auston Matthews and John Tavares before him preferred to keep such talk inside, coach Craig Berube insists the public doesn't understand how Matthews can command a room.

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Still, Berube, who gave his team the benefit of the doubt when no one pulled up the Rangers' Ozzie Weisblatt for putting rookie Easton Cowan in his post in the previous game, didn't dispute Stolarz's harsh statements, adding a few pointed chirps of his own.

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General manager Brad Treliving has been trying to lead the Leafs out of the pacifist Kyle Dubas era, his predecessor often waiting until the trade deadline to add sandpaper to his veteran roster in a string of playoff failures. The irony on Saturday was that Marchment once had a future as Toronto's power forward. Dubas spent a lot of time and resources developing Marchment into a full-time player, only to trade him to Florida for Swiss Miss Denis Malgina. It was a move that Dubas recently described as his biggest regret in his tenure here.

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What's disappointing for all concerned is that Berube's Leafs showed the necessary resilience to win the NHL's toughest regular-season division last year, winning away from the conference finals. Although Mitch Marner left a huge hole in the attack, the addition of Nicholas Roy was considered Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli, a full season of Scott Laughton (currently on the national team) and the return of all six defenders would at least maintain structure and improve performance.

Yes, there are only six games left, and every imperfect October brings an overreaction from fans and the media. But it's good that the goalkeeper publicly scolded his comrades and began to distribute attacks to the attackers, as Ed Belfour did. As he closed out his Hall of Fame career in Toronto, Belfour thought nothing of asking boundary-breakers “like your father” with an upward swing of the stick or throwing a blocking shot to the head.

Armed with his new four-year contract and the best save percentage in the NHL last season, Stolarz has moved into the leadership group with Matthews, Tavares and second reserve Morgan Rielly.

It would seem that Marner's thrown A is claimed.

“(Stolarz) is incredibly important, he brings intensity to the ice and backs it up with his play,” Rielly said. “You want guys who care, who are motivated and who want to win.”

And you want to protect them.

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