by Bob HerpenPhanatic Hockey Editor
Although Boston College predecessors Scott Clemmensen, Cory Schneider and Thatcher Demko, along with successors Spencer Knight and Jacob Fowler may have more name recognition at the NHL level, new Flyers goaltender Joe Woll has largely been freed from the burden of expectation.
Woll’s time at BC was neatly wedged in a downturn for the program. It came after current NHLers Colin White, Alex Tuch and Demko led the Eagles to the Frozen Four in 2016, but before college hockey legend and Hockey Hall of Fame coach Jerry York retired and Greg Brown was able to recruit a band of one-or-two-and-done mercenaries which made it all the way to the 2024 NCAA title game.
The Eagles failed to gain a berth to the national tournament all 3 years Woll worked on the Heights, the first time since they were shut out for 6 straight years from 1991 to 1997. They did, finally, make a Beanpot final in his senior season, but lost to Northeastern.
At the time, Woll was *the guy,” participating in 101 games. Ryan Edquist was the occasional backup all 3 years. Despite the Eagles’ decline, Woll’s save percentages actually rose each season, from .913 to .915 to .919 in a senior year when he finished 13-21-3 with 3 shutouts. At the same time, his goals-against average improved from 2.64 to 2.48 to 2.41.
As a result of knowing how to deal with the pressure of doing the job for a losing team, Woll’s attitude and demeanor heading into the pros might have been a bit more developed than say, his future Maple Leafs battery mate Anthony Stolarz.
Stolie infamously made the jump midway through his frosh season at Omaha to the loaded London Knights in January of 2013, before being slammed down to Earth during his first year in Allentown on a losing club trying to gain a foothold in developing players.
Fast forward to the present, and Stolie had nothing but good things to say about Woll last October, when the latter returned from a leave of absence due to a private family matter. Even former Leafs GM Brad Treliving called Woll ‘a caring person’ upon his return to the fold.
So there won’t be any half truths or click bait over here when I say Woll might be an excellent personal fit for his new team, if only he could loosen up a bit.
When asked an actually relevant, non-leading question by a local beat during a June 24 video call about how his handling of the tandem with Stolarz in Toronto would inform his time here, Woll opted for the polished, media-ready answer.
“I know that when there are two guys that are going, it definitely benefits the team. You want everyone on the team to be playing to the best of their ability,” he said. “As we found out the last couple of years with different injuries between us, different things happening, both guys are willing to step up at any time.”
He also had a canned response when pressed further on the Leafs goaltending rollercoaster and how dealing with a flexible situation informed his mindset, saying: “I’ve had experience early on in the NHL of being a backup to a guy that’s really riding.”
“At the other end of that, I think I’ve had great sections that showed I can carry the torch as well," he added. "I think I’ve played great hockey when called upon. I’ve done a great job at staying healthy and being available when I’m needed in those situations.”
And even when naturally conceding his own inner competitive fire, the response was predictable.
"It’s never anyone’s goal in the NHL to be a backup and that’s not my goal,” he said.
Woll further opted for the forthright, team-friendly nugget about acclimatizing to head coach Rick Tocchet’s system of goalies playing “half the net,” and when asked to elaborate on what he might spend the summer working on, merely offered that there were ‘a list of things’ he’d concentrate on to keep himself sharp.
One thing about the BC environment, is that its student body are pulled from the top tier in both public and parochial schools which dot the upper-middle to upper-class suburbs and exurbs of big-and-small-town New England as well as the major metropolitan centers in the East and Midwest.
There has been, and still is, a strong sense of conformity and decorum that permeates the way students carry themselves. This veneer is only peeled back in small portions, such as the 21st century version of the Superfans who made football games at Alumni Stadium from every winning era from the 2000s on look more like the Philadelphia Eagles games I know, than a trip to a best friend’s grandparent’s wake as it was in the late 1990s.
Besides, the former sports information director for hockey, the late, great Dick Kelley – who once famously told me in the fall of 1999 when I walked into his office to tell him I would be broadcasting BC men’s hockey as a senior, “you’re not here to act like an idiot, you’re representing yourself and this school” – who fiercely backed his programs until his 2014 death from ALS, made sure his student-athletes were more camera ready than others.
Not that one could necessarily judge from a single 15-minute introductory presser conducted from what appears to be Woll’s attic 2 weeks ago. But, based on a wealth of experience, I wouldn’t expect Woll to be a great quote for a good, long while.
Not until he becomes more comfortable with his Philly surroundings and not until he’s assured that the local media circus – a certain segment of which was intent on fomenting bad feelings about a certain Russian franchise corner piece – is nothing like the never-ending hot take Big Top that runs 24/7 in Hogtown.
There’s already hints he might fit right in. Calling his new head coach “Rick,” the goalie coach “Dilly” and his netmouth partner “Vladdy.” Pure one-syllable monikers are stock in trade.
Still, I can definitely hear Kelley in my ear telling Woll from the Great Beyond, admonishing him in the same way he did to Penn Charter’s own Matt Ryan to be more candid and intelligent with his public comments: “you’re a Boston College graduate, why don’t you try to sound like it?”
About that. Goaltending tandems are not just graded on balance in terms of workload, but of temperament. Think Bob vs. Bryz. Or Neuvirth & Moose. Or Ray Emery matched against virtually anyone else. I just can’t imagine the awkwardness of the scene once Woll, fresh from his first Flyers victory, attempts to give Dan Vladar a big ol' bear hug that seemed to be his trademark.
Vladar’s a close-to-the-vest, poker-faced Czech. It might be a situation where 1A is forced to smile on the inside and later is forced to cite 1B's infectious enthusiasm as a perfect counterpoint.
We’ll see how far into a comfort zone he’ll be able to slide once the daily media grind sets in, and we'll see if he gives anything away when I call on him in late January to dish on the inner workings of the generational rivalries that fuel Beanpot fandom.
