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Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll reveals new mask for 2024-25 NHL season

Originally posted on Hockey Patrol | By Graham Montgomery | Last updated Sep 4, 2024 7:22 PM ET

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll just revealed one major gear change he is implementing heading into next season.

The young netminder will be debuting a new mask which he just showed off on Instagram today. The design is a classic, paying homage to legendary Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph, lovingly known as "Cujo" among Leafs fans and NHL fans more broadly. Cujo had one of the most famous masks of all time in the NHL as various versions always featured a big cat roaring. Woll joins a growing list of Leafs goaltenders that have paid homage to Cujo with their mask, including his former tandem mate Ilya Samsonov, who sported a similar mask last season.

Hopefully, Joseph Woll will have plenty of opportunities to show off the new mask next season as he figures to be in line for the starter's role. The Leafs did bring in veteran backup Anthony Stolarz to support him, but neither goalie has ever played the starter's role for an extended period of time in the NHL.

As such, the two netminders could find themselves in a battle for that role all season, and head coach Craig Berube could very well end up playing the hot hand on any given night, without relying on the typical starter/backup system.

Joseph Woll set a career high in games last season despite missing several months with an ankle injury. He got into 25 contests, putting up a 12-11-1 record, a .907 save percentage, and a 2.94 goals-against-average. Regardless of how next season goes, the Leafs will be banking on him developing into their starting goaltender of the future. To this point though, he has just 36 career games of experience in the NHL.

Anthony Stolarz, on the other hand, has been a regular in the league for some time, but still has just 108 games of experience as a backup, primarily with the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers. He started 24 games for Florida last season where he went 16-7-2 and posted a brilliant .925 save percentage and a minuscule 2.03 GAA. Will those numbers translate to Toronto where he will likely get a bigger work load, or will the Leafs end up leaning on Woll for their goaltending duties? Stay tuned to find out.

Source: HockeyReference
Joseph Woll career statistics

Source: HockeyReference
Anthony Stolarz career statistics

This article first appeared on Hockey Patrol and was syndicated with permission.

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