“He’ll either be good or he’ll be really bad”: Don Cherry makes his expectations known of Anthony Stolarz in goal for Leafs

Don Cherry talked about Anthony Stolarz before Game 1 of the Maple Leafs playoff series against the Senators. On episode 304 of "Don Cherry’s Grapevine Podcast," the former coach shared his thoughts with his son, Tim.

He first compared the stats between Maple Leafs and Senators in the 2024-25 regular season.

"All right, I wrote a few things down," Cherry said(4:36 onwards). "Sens won the (regular season) series 3-0, favored to win. Sens scored the nine to three in three games. In the last 20 games, they have a 14-5-1 record... The Leafs have 12-6-2 record. Leafs didn't score a power play goal against the Sens this season."

Following which Tim talked about Stolarz potentially starting in game 1 for the Leafs and Cherry agreed. He called him the team’s ace in the hole.

"Well, he's the guy that should start. He should start," Don said. "He might be their ace in the hole. He'll either be good or he'll be really bad."

Don said he wanted a different goalie in net, not Joseph Woll and that’s why he backed Stolarz to get the start. Stolarz did end up starting the Game 1 and helped Toronto in securing a standout 6-2 win over Ottawa. He stopped 31 of 33 shots and looked calm under pressure.

Stolarz came into the playoffs with good numbers. He won his last eight regular-season starts. During that stretch, he had a 1.37 goals-against average. He also posted a .950 save percentage. Those numbers gave the Leafs confidence in him. So far, the decision seems to be working.

The Senators created chances but couldn’t beat him often. Anthony Stolarz stayed in control and didn’t give up rebounds. His strong play helped Toronto take the early series lead.

Apart from Anthony Stolarz in goal, Maple Leafs offense was also fully functional on power play

Ottawa outshot Toronto in Game 1 but struggled with penalties. The Senators had 38 penalty minutes and the Leafs took advantage with three power-play goals. Ottawa went 0-for-2 with the man advantage. Their lack of discipline hurt them throughout the game.

“No, you step on the ice and have those eager, anxious jitters to kind of get going, " Anthony Stolarz said, via NHL.com."but once I stepped out there it was all about having some fun and going to battle with the 19 other guys out there,”

Don said the Maple Leafs needed something different in goal. Anthony Stolarz gave them that and more. Now, the Game 2 is on Tuesday in Toronto and the Leafs fans will expect him in the net.