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Ron Wilson bailed on speaking to the media today

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson stands behind the bench during third period against the Florida Panthers in NHL hockey action in Sunrise, Florida

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson stands behind the bench during third period against the Florida Panthers in NHL hockey action in Sunrise, Florida March 17, 2011. On the bench are players Mike Brown, Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski (L-R). REUTERS/Hans Deryk (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

REUTERS

Is trouble brewing in Toronto?

That’s the question many were asking today as Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson declined to address reporters following practice. That Wilson chose today to bail was rather curious, as the Leafs are going through their first bit of adversity this season. They’ve lost three of five and been outscored 12-1 in consecutive losses to the Bruins and Panthers with goalies Ben Scrivens (seven goals on 21 shots) and Jonas Gustavsson (five goals on 27 shots) struggling mightly.

The goaltending issues came to a head last night as Wilson not-so-subtly threw both under the bus in the postgame presser.

Wilson: “We’ve gotta support our goalies better. It’s a rough time for them. We have to play better defensively, but sometimes that’s hard to do when you don’t give up any chances and the pucks’ in the net...and it’s not a scoring chance.”

Wilson: “Their goalie [Jose Theodore] made a number of big saves and unfortunately we didn’t get a save, and that sunk us.”

Reporter: “How do you move ahead when both goaltenders are kind of fighting it?”

Wilson: “Well, they’ve gotta work hard in practice. That’s their responsibility to sit there with Frankie [goalie coach Francois Allaire] and go over the games. At least now we go on the road, maybe they can relax a little bit and not worry about what happens if they make a mistake. And hopefully they’ll bounce back.”

It was widely predicted the Leafs would struggle when starting goalie James Reimer was lost to injury, and those predictions have come true. (Doesn’t sound like Reimer’s close to returning, either.) So you can understand why Wilson is trying to keep the media at bay -- he’s got nothing good to say about his current goaltending situation, so it’s probably best not to say anything.

Just not sure how long that’s going to work. It’s the Toronto media, after all.