Toronto Maple Leafs fans and observers are generally passionate and tend to be brutal when judging the team based on its results.
On Wednesday, October 28, the Leafs lost 5-4 to the Seattle Kraken in a game that seemed within reach, but a few costly mistakes ultimately kept them from getting back in it.
The player who faced the most criticism after the loss was goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. However, some experts believe there is room for criticism while also recognizing the situation isn’t necessarily apocalyptic.
On Thursday, October 29, during Daily Faceoff’s “The Leafs Morning Take,” Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill discussed Bobrovsky’s situation and whether he is genuinely a problem for the Leafs right now.
Rosehill, in particular, took a more cautious approach. Although he criticized Bobrovsky’s performances, the former Toronto player said he still believed the goaltender could return to his best form, arguing that calls to get rid of him are exaggerated.
Maple Leafs’ Bobrovsky Faces Brutal Market Reaction, per Rosehill
Alberga first said, “Hey, a couple decisions were just baffling. Why do they seem so scared to go to Anthony Stolarz, and number two, any sane person watching that game would have been like, ‘you know what, let’s try to change the momentum. Let’s go with Stolarz in the third period.’ They just keep riding Sergei Bobrovsky, even though you can tell he lets in a crippling goal after crippling goal.”
Rosehill said, “All you can do is support him and hopefully try to get him to play better hockey. And that’s what Jim Hiller is obviously doing. This market isn’t good at that. They don’t care. I mean, it was scrolling last night before I shut the light off. I was like, oh my God. Just all torching Bobrovsky.”
“And I mean, that’s this market. There are a ton of people, and they are very passionate. And when something like this happens where there’s one clear issue at the moment, the guy gets absolutely torched. And I hope that doesn’t affect him.”
“That’s what’s good about being a veteran and having all the accolades behind you: you’re probably going to be a little bit stronger to that stuff mentally. He doesn’t seem to be showing any sign of wavering in confidence. Almost to the point of pissing people off more, Hiller as well, like neglecting to acknowledge that this is bad.”
“But in their mind, that doesn’t help anything. They’re going to try to do what they can to get Bobrovsky to play better hockey. And all I can do is hope that that happens. I’ve got to think that he’s got better than this, don’t you? Or is this like, like nobody knows, obviously, but the amount of people saying this ship has sailed and torch it and all the rest of it. It’s like there’s a chance he’s got better in him, right? This could be a hiccup or a bump in the road, and he’ll get more opportunities, obviously. There’s no other option.”
Maple Leafs HC Jim Hiller Gets Backing on Sergei Bobrovsky Call