The last thing you want is for your goalkeeper to get injured early in the season. This is exactly what happened to the Toronto Maple Leafs
Their starting goalkeeper, Jonas Gustavsson, underwent minor surgery for a “rapid heartbeat”. Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, he doesn’t look like he’s going to miss many games and will likely be back on the ice soon.
Before he returns, they have to find a replacement. Vesa Toskala was Gustavsson’s backup, but he played a couple of games and didn’t play well.
The Maple Leafs are in trouble because they just had to put MacDonald in the net.
Like I said before, Gustavsson won’t be out for long, he’ll be ready before the week is out.
However, this got me thinking about the problems the Maple Leafs will have if their primary goalie gets injured again or plays poorly.
No team wants their goalkeeper to play poorly, but most teams have a backup who can win games. Or, they have a good defense that can keep the puck away from the net.
The Maple Leafs have none of this. Defense is definitely a weakness and we’re seeing that just from the way he started his season.
Toronto has lost its first 5 games. They are one of two NHL teams that have yet to win a game. Them and the New York Islanders.
Until they get a solid goal, they won’t have much better luck. Hopefully they’ll be able to do a little scouting and land some young players that will make a positive difference on this team.
