Last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending tandem was one of the strongest in the league, but this year things have gotten a little messier. Both Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz have missed stretches this season, and neither have looked as sharp as last year, Stolarz in particular. Dennis Hildeby has gotten some good looks with the big club, but has the drawback of being the youngest of the three with waiver exemption to go along with it.

On Monday, former Maple Leafs goaltender Justin Pogge joined Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Leafs Morning Take ahead of Toronto’s match against the Calgary Flames. Now a goalie coach for the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, Pogge gave his two cents on the situation between the pipes in Toronto.

“I think Woll, he’s a great talent, he’s got a lot on his shoulders,” Pogge said. “I don’t know what’s going on with Stolarz. He’s a big guy, it just seems like he has a lot of time off. You’re supposed to be a giant and take the hits in there like Ben Roethlisberger. I liked Hildeby when he was up, I think he’s another great young talent.”

Pogge was drafted by the Maple Leafs in 2004 and played seven games with the club in the 2008-09 season. Familiar with being a young player in Toronto, he credited the patience the organization is showing these days in developing young goaltenders like Hildeby.

“I think you guys have a lot, but it’s not easy playing in Toronto,” he said. “I think there’s a little bit more patience the last couple years in Toronto with their young goalies, and I really appreciate that. I think that’s what they need.”

Meanwhile, as the Fraser Minten trade continues to be a hot topic in the city, Pogge was asked about the Tuukka Rask trade–another exchange with the Boston Bruins that doesn’t look so good upon reflection. Rask was selected by the Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2005 draft, but he was sent to the Bruins where he found tremendous success. In return, Toronto received goaltender Andrew Raycroft–who played just two seasons for the Maple Leafs–in addition to gambling on the young Pogge’s potential.

“Tuukka Rask was an unbelievable talent. He was a first-round draft pick, and everyone is gonna say it, it was a dumb trade,” Pogge said, reflecting on that deal nearly two decades ago. “To compare me to Tuukka Rask at that point, he was a lot higher of a prospect. And I think talent-wise he was playing in a pro league and experience-wise he was doing a lot more things than I was at the time. I was the last pick in the third round. To put the pressure on me to the first-round guy, it blows my mind that there’s a comparison there.”

Altogether, Pogge said it’s a textbook example of why it’s important to be patient when developing goaltenders.

“I did my best when I was there, but as I said before, you need some patience with goalies,” he said. “My maturity came in when I was playing Europe at 27, I thought that’s when I was playing my best hockey. I think if I would have got a chance then it would have been a different story, but that’s how life is.”

Check out Alberga and Rosehill’s full interview with Pogge here, and be sure to tune into Leafs Morning Take weekdays at 11am on The Leafs Nation Youtube channel!

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