Jim Hiller was asked this morning why Anthony Stolarz gets the Maple Leafs' start tonight against the Oilers, and he gave almost nothing away.
The Leafs are on a five-game losing streak, so any goalie decision gets read closely. Sergei Bobrovsky is the established number one in Toronto, and the coach's choice to go the other way on Saturday will draw attention.
Mark Masters put the question to Hiller directly, and the coach kept it short.
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Hiller called it the "Same things that goes into every decision," adding that it was "just some thought, some discussion" before the call was made. No mention of matchups, rest or form.
That is a coach's right. But a non-answer in the middle of a skid says as much as a detailed one would have.
Toronto sits 8-11-2 and 23rd in the NHL, seventh in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs were beaten 5-2 by the Wild on Thursday, and they are 3-7-0 over their last 10.
Bobrovsky has played in 13 games this season to Stolarz's 8, which makes this a real change in how the crease has been used. We already looked at Sergei Bobrovsky at the center of the Avalanche collapse after the Leafs fell 6-3 on Tuesday.
Is Hiller sending Sergei Bobrovsky a message?
Hiller has not said so, and nothing in his words points to a verdict on Bobrovsky. Still, a coach who picks the other goalie for a home game against Edmonton, with his team in a freefall, and then declines to explain, leaves the door open to that reading.
Our view: the vagueness is the story. If this were simply a rest day or a matchup call, one sentence would have said so. Instead, the explanation was left blank, and every Leafs fan will fill it in with the same name.
The context is not kind to Toronto either. The Leafs are 4-8-1 at home, and the crowd will be looking for something to hold on to. Stolarz, a 2012 second-round pick of the Flyers, gets the chance to give them that.
Back on Saturday, November 7, Bobrovsky in the starter's net against Canadiens looked like the default setup. One week later, it no longer does.
Puck drop is tonight in Toronto, and Hiller's next goalie call, whenever it comes, will be asked about the same way.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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