OverDrive - Ralph on Stolarz's enhanced role, the Maple Leafs' tandem and the team's performance in the Atlantic Division

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Maple Leafs Radio Analyst Jim Ralph joined OverDrive to discuss the latest around the Maple Leafs, Anthony Stolarz's incredible performance against New Jersey, the team's tandem views, the Maple Leafs' stretch of games and more.

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Credits, where homeowners get approved. Disrelicensed 12-616. Here's Jim Ralph. How you doing, Ralphie? Good, A.C. How you guys doing? We're doing very well. What did you make of Stoller's last night? I mean, what, can you put that into perspective for us? How much

he helped his teammates playing the way he played? Yeah, I think they've got to create a different column for wins. Which that into perspective for us how much he helped his teammates playing the way he played yeah i think they've got to create a different column for wins which should be like uh didn't really deserve it yeah but uh i mean you're going to get those over the air where you'll play the opposition and and it doesn't go your way but i i think um and hopefully noodles would agree with this it was a tough game i mean there were a lot of scrambles and a lot of traffic. And, you know, even the sequence that led up to the Holmberg shorthanded goal, there were five or six whacks at it and scrambles in front of the net

before they got through. So it was, to me, it was one of those games that it was a battle. It was an absolute battle that he shone for them, and it was the number one reason, easily, that they won that game. Well, that's where I was going to go, Ralphie. We see it all the time. We saw it game one of the season for the Leafs where Montembeul was the guy that did that at the other end.

But is there something, I mean, you've watched these goalie tandems for years now for the Leafs, and I was trying to defend a little bit in previous years where you had Jack Campbell who made the all-star team, you know, Samsonov had some stretches, Freddie Anderson had some stretches. What would be the separator for this tandem that is a little bit different from years past that we've seen? Well, I mean, I think the odd thing is,

I think Stoller is the most he's ever played in the season. He's 27 games, and Wall only got into 25 last year. So the odd part about this duo is they've never done it before, you know, on their own or with anybody else, you know, an extended period. And it'll be interesting to see, especially with the heavy schedule they've got the rest of the month, if they can keep it up. But it just seems like, you know, if you want to compare it to Hallmark and Swayman and, you know, the runs they've had together when they were in Boston, that's probably

the only comparable I can think of, other than maybe let's throw Glenn Healy in with Curtis Joseph as a comparable to what we're seeing now for Buddy Heals. Of all the things that make you feel comfortable with Stolarz specifically, how high up on the list would be just his sheer size? Looking at a goaltender that's that big in the net, I feel like that's something the Leafs haven't had. If you go back through the Samsonoff, Wall's not as

big. Campbell was smaller. You go back to Freddie Anderson, that's the last real big kind of hulking goalie in the net. How high up on the list of things you like is his size? I think it's almost a contradiction, Frankie, because

he's got the size, but the agility as well. Usually, you get a lot of guys that are big goalies that are great positionally, take up a lot of the net, play their angles well, but his agility for a big man, I think,

is what stands out. When you only see a guy once or twice a season, if that, you don't get an appreciation of a player unless you watch him game in and game out in every minute that he plays. And that's what amazed me is that he's not a blocker. He's very active, he's very agile, but at the same time under control.

So, you know, the size, you almost don't notice as much He's very active, he's very agile, but at the same time under control. Besides, you almost don't notice as much as the agility we've seen from him. With Jim Ralph, Ralphie and Joe Bone with the Colts tomorrow night, Leafs-Ducks down at Scotiabank Arena. What did you think of that hit by Max Pacioretty on Jack Hughes at the end of the second period, and furthermore, the reaction or lack thereof from the Devils. Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of mixed on it, to be honest. You know, I think there's similarities between the white cloud hit on Nyes,

where they say, you know, the head didn't snap back, so they don't look at it as the principal point of contact. So you understand that. And then on the other side, I've always been mixed on, if it's a clean hit, why does a guy have to fight after? You know, you talk about lack of response. The Leafs did that and ended up with the extra-minor penalty after the white cloud hit.

So, I mean, I'm not sure, you know, who was it? Dougie Hamilton was right there. Yeah, Dougie was the first one in there, yeah. Yeah. Brendan Dillon's right there, guys. Dillon's a monster. That's the thing. Brendan Dillon.

He was chirping. Chirping is not going to cut it. Chirping. Chirp all you want. Noodles. I was a wet noodle. I would chirp on the ice. Like, I wasn't going to fight you.

Like, that's a guy who's, I don't know if you want to call him in the heavyweight class in the league, but he can fight the heavies. Like, that's the thing. We've seen him fight heavies, and that's like a no-brainer. Hamilton, go in there, chirp, you know, cross-check, but get out of the way. Or Dylan, like, just take control of that situation, because if you're a heavy and you're not going to fight in that situation, when are you going to fight?

Yeah, it was an opportunity to jump in i mean and i understand as well it's reactionary you see your guy get drilled uh you don't call a huddle and say hey guys was that clean or not uh should we just stay away and put our heads down and go back to the bench but it it's, yeah, I mean, that'll be something, you know, especially if they turn around and lose, you know, that you're going to question maybe the team not jumping in for them, especially because it's one of your skilled players. But like I said, I've always been mixed on,

you know, if it's a clean hit, are we saying that guys have to pay a price regardless for technically doing their jobs and playing physical? I've always been back and forth on that. Like I said, I mean, it's reactionary, so all you do is you see your guy get thrilled. I don't think you really sit back and compute whether it was clean or not. There's usually more of a reaction than a response, and there was neither. Yeah, there was none of it.

And I'm with you in terms of clean hits and the idea that someone has to fight on behalf of themselves because of that, but I also know we went through... Yeah, I was going to say, Hazy, too, I remember going back to the Stolarz thing and the way the game played out. I do remember the game, and it's still a Leafs record for fewest shots in a game, where they route shot 28-9 in St. Louis and won 4-0. And Curtis Joseph was easily the first star in that game. And I also remember a game very clearly where it almost happened

where the Leafs, I think, outshot the opposition 38-14 after two periods. And Matt Sundin had a four-goal night, and they finally won in overtime. 6-5 against Florida. I don't know if you remember that game. I remember that game. I remember that vividly. I don't know about that.

Goaltending performances through the roof on that one. You know what the part that hurts the most about that night? I think I've told you guys this. It's that Joe Neuendijk got a hat trick and we lost. We're sitting on the bus afterwards, and I'm staring at him. He can barely move. His back is so bad. And my heart just hurt for him because I was like, you should be celebrating.

You were so amazing tonight. But Matt's got four on me. And I was like, God. Listen, there was a couple of them that's not a bad i know but the thing is there was there was one that really bothered me it was a half wall shot and he could bring it but i it just he he overpowered me with it and it still bothers me to this day because it was like listen i made lots of saves in that game it's not the saves you make it's the goals you you allow. And I just, I still to this day, I can remember sitting on the bus

and looking to my right over, and Joe knew I could barely sit down. And this guy had put a hat trick up, and the bus was silent because we lost six. It was an OT goal. You got a point. I would love it if you came on the bus. We got a point for this. Good job. But the other side of that, Noodles, is people don't remember you for that goal again.

I mean, it was off the left-wing boards, right, in the third period? Yes. Yeah, it was a tough one. It's not that we remember that. It was amazing. I have no idea where I parked, but I remember not funding the goal. You remember that one. 20 years ago.

With Jim Ralph. So you look at the way years ago. With Jim Ralph. So you look at the way they've been playing, Ralph. Last week you beat Chicago just because you're the Leafs and they're Chicago. It wasn't a great game. The same thing with Nashville. With all the respect to those two teams. Well, I guess

very disrespectfully saying they are what they are. And the Leafs just found a way to get it done and they moved on. Then you lose to the Capitals and Washington just outplayed you. Pittsburgh might have been a coin flip, but you lose it. Last night Stoller stands on his head. Now you've got Anaheim, Detroit, Buffalo, like three teams that are in one right now,

three teams that you're going to be heavily favored against. What would you expect Berube's message to be, based on what we've seen out of this team the last four or five games, and the opportunity to rack up some points over the next few nights? Yeah, I'd say there's got to be mild concern. And if you want to go back just a couple of games before that, they lost in Florida, which you could say they were due. Then the game in Tampa, they give up three late third-per period goals and just hang on and get an empty header to win there.

And then all the other games, Chicago, Nashville, Washington, even the Pittsburgh game, they're all flip a coin games. We're talking about a bounce off a referee's skate. We're talking about power play goals at the Terminus. I'd say there's a mild concern that they've been flirting with being a 500 team. And I think the concern is with the heavy schedule ahead, they've got to find it.

They've got to get that traction back. And, you know, hopefully last night you steal a game. It's a bit of a wake-up call to get back to some of the things you were doing, you know, three or four weeks ago. Well and and health is going to be a part of that too right like jake mccabe has been day-to-day for weeks that's been a theme with this team and who knows when he returns and and mcmahon returns he had max back last night playing on the way i i didn't notice him much i think he's gonna but he's got to get going. Like, Max hasn't scored a goal yet. Like, there's guys on the, like, we know what we expect

out of the top four, or the core four, and certainly the top four defense and the goalies we've been raving about, but do you look at anyone on the level below that where you think, okay, that's a guy that can really spark,

you know, the depth of this team and make it feel like that's a conversation you can put to bed if and when that guy in particular starts playing better? i know nobody even said it i think after the second period last night so this is a game where somebody else has got to contribute bottom six or defenseman scores and it comes from the unlikely source of holmberg uh you know shorthanded in the third i think that's you know when you start talking about bounces and special teams and everything else,

those are such valuable goals to get from your bottom six, you know, whether it's killing the penalty or five on five to tie a game late. So, you know, you hope that's there. But it is amazing that, you know, the conversation has flipped for most years where we're talking about how great the power play has been and how Matthew is going to hit 70 goals,

but they've been giving up too much defensively or the goal-turning has been a little bit shaky. So it's sort of interesting that the conversation has flipped 360 from what we've had over the last five years. Yeah, it really has, and we'll see what comes of it tomorrow night. Leafs Ducks right here on TSN Radio. Joe Bowen, Jim Rolfe with the call. Thank you, Ralphie.

Enjoy it tomorrow night. We'll do it again down the road. All right. Thanks, boys. There he is, Jim Rolfe.