News Article: Michael Hutchinson speaks: trade request, AHL All-Star controversy, NHL future

CorgisPer60

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Q&A with Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson on asking for a...

HEXTALL: In your time with the Winnipeg Jets organization, you have had the chance to battle for the starting spot in goal. Why haven’t you been able to be the No. 1 in Winnipeg?
HUTCHINSON: I always find it funny people think I had opportunities to run with it. My first year in St. John’s, I got to play a ton of games and help the team make the playoffs. The next season, I started off the year with the Jets 4-0; had really good numbers and then I didn’t play for two weeks. At the time I get called into the office and the explanation was more the business side of things. So you don’t play for two weeks. Then I get some migraine problems in November and battled through those. By the time you get back to feeling 100 per cent you’re not playing a ton.
That season, Pavs (Ondrej Pavelec) goes down with an injury and Helley (Connor Hellebuck) gets called up. We’re playing back-to-back to start that set. Helley played against Minnesota and won that game and I played against Colorado and lost. Then they went right back to Helley. In that sense, as a goalie, to be given an opportunity you have to play three to five games in a row to get a chance to run with it and establish consistency. After my first year, I don’t think I’ve played more than two games in a row. For me it was frustrating, but the organization saw what they saw in Helley and this year they definitely saw the right thing in him. You can’t argue with that decision.

HEXTALL: Where did the discussion go with the Jets after Mason was signed?
HUTCHINSON: As soon as they signed Mason, we (Hutchinson and his agent) went right in and asked to get moved. I feel I’m an NHL goalie and I feel I can play and be successful at that level. Whether it is to play the games and prove I can be a starting goalie or being in a backup situation. I feel I can contribute in both scenarios in the NHL. I asked the team for a trade.

HEXTALL: You hit the century mark with your 100th NHL start in January. A 3-1 win over Tampa Bay that came with a side of controversy. You preach your goal is to be an NHL goaltender, but yet you’re up with the big club and chose to attend the AHL all-star game the day before you knew you had to start against the top team in the East. Why?
HUTCHINSON: Basically it came down to my eighth year in pro hockey and I had never played in an all-star game. It could be my only chance to play in an all-star game and it was a huge honour. The Jets said it was my decision, explained the travel to get back from the all-star game in Utica the day of my start and that it may be in my best interest not to play. At the same time, the Jets said it was my decision and I took time to think about it.
My decision was to play in the all-star game. It was a huge honour and at the end of my career I didn’t want to be kicking myself.

There's obviously more in the article, but out of respect for rules and pay walls, I'm not going to post them. These are the salient points, though.
 

Aavco Cup

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Like I said in the Trade/Speculation thread earlier. The most interesting part was that he asked for a trade and the Jets told him they would attempt to accommodate his request
 

Aavco Cup

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Sounds like he's making a bunch of excuses for not getting the role he wants and his declining performance.

Nowhere does he take responsbility for his play in the spots that I can see.

I think his time here with this org is coming to an end. All of this doesn't really matter any more.
 

surixon

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I think his time here with this org is coming to an end. All of this doesn't really matter any more.

Your right it doesn't really matter. As I said I wish him well if he gets another chance somewhere but I don't want want him back.
 

Ducky10

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Sounds like he's making a bunch of excuses for not getting the role he wants and his declining performance.

Nowhere does he take responsbility for his play in the spots that I can see.
Agreed, Hutch has never seemed much on personal accountibility in his time with the Jets. He's thrown his teammates under the bus a couple of times after lousy performances.

I find his indignation kind of funny, his success as an NHL goalie is pretty small sample, not sure where he gets the attitude he's being screwed.
 

JetsUK

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Agreed, Hutch has never seemed much on personal accountibility in his time with the Jets. He's thrown his teammates under the bus a couple of times after lousy performances.

I find his indignation kind of funny, his success as an NHL goalie is pretty small sample, not sure where he gets the attitude he's being screwed.

IDK. I get the frustration, and it must be galling to watch Pavs, who sucked most of the time he was here, ride off into the sunset with NYR while he toils in the AHL.

Not sure this is the best time to be venting so publicly though -- I'd have saved that until I was comfortably into my next contract. He must have gone to the Adam Pardy "Burn Your NHL Bridges for Fun and Profit" life coaching seminars.
 

nobody important

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Agreed, Hutch has never seemed much on personal accountibility in his time with the Jets. He's thrown his teammates under the bus a couple of times after lousy performances.

I find his indignation kind of funny, his success as an NHL goalie is pretty small sample, not sure where he gets the attitude he's being screwed.

Hey... Goalies are...

25-hoodoos.jpg


:eyeroll:
 

Skidooboy

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Sounds like he's making a bunch of excuses for not getting the role he wants and his declining performance.

Nowhere does he take responsbility for his play in the spots that I can see.


It's funny you say that.

Because I kind of Agree with him. He was never given an honest shot. Sure, he didn't play lights out Vezina every start, but he also was never given a real .."here's 10 games go show us" type of run.
You could maybe argue he didn't deserve a chance like that......but we were running Pavs for a lot of that time, over and over again Pavs.... anointed our number one for what 5 1/2- 6 years in a row? I won't even talk about the series with the Ducks and the garbage fire Pavs was there..... so yeah I think Mike has a case about not getting a fair shake.
 
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surixon

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It's funny you say that.

Because I kind of Agree with him. He was never given an honest shot. Sure, he didn't play lights out Vezina every start, but he also was never given a real .."here's 10 games go show us" type of run.
You could maybe argue he didn't deserve a chance like that......but we were running Pavs for a lot of that time, over and over again Pavs.... anointed our number one for what 5 1/2- 6 years in a row? I won't even talk about the series with the Ducks and the garbage fire Pavs was there..... so yeah I think Mike has a case about not getting a fair shake.

Actually he was in his rookie year, they gave him reigns and he ran with it for a time prior to cooling off. That allowed Pavs an opportunity to get back in. Pavs played lights out and g9t us to the playoffs.

Funny he doesn't mention that in the article.

His numbers post his rookie season decline to below average back up levels. He didnt out perform the overpaid stater the second year as both posted the same .908 save percentages.

The year after they chose to give him an opportunity to platoon with Helle while banishing Pavs. He started something like 4 - 9 with his numbers in the sewer.

I fail to see how he wasn't given opportunities. The one time he outplayed the incumbnt the org let him run with it but he couldn't hold it. Every other year he didn't perform better than our other option. That is on him and not the org. Contrast that with Helle who also had a rough year last season but took responsibility for it and went out and improved his game this past summer. When he got the opportunity this season he ran with it and hasn't given it up.

Edit to flush out Hutch's chances:

In his second year the org went with a platoon situation to see if Hutch could win the job to start. Through the first two months of the 15-16 season Hutch and Pavs had near equal games:

Hutch 13 games (11 starts) going 5-6-1 with a .901 save percentage
Pavs 15 games (13 starts) going the same record with a .906 save percentage

When Pavs went down Helle came up and went on a run going 7-3 with a .932 save percentage in December.

As seen Hutch was given the chance in a platoon to take the job, he didn't perform and Moe rode the hot hand in Helle when he came up.

16-17 season:

Once again the org went into the year with a platoon situation in which they gave both goalies a chance to win the job.

Helle went 7-6 with a .911
Hutch went 2-4-2 with a .895

Its hard to argue that his play warranted anything from this org. The org gave him 3 opportunists to show that he could win the job and his performance was lacking each time. Its fine to be disappointed, but he needs to take a nice long look in the mirror and accept that he failed to take his opportunities. The fact that he thinks that he wasn't given opportunities his troubling, does he think he will get a better shot elsewhere.
 
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mcpw

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IDK. I get the frustration, and it must be galling to watch Pavs, who sucked most of the time he was here, ride off into the sunset with NYR while he toils in the AHL.

Here's a guy who gets it.

"It’s not rec hockey, where you pay your $185 bucks and everybody gets fair ice time. You get your chance to do something, you need to do something."

Unless you're Pavelec, Stuart, Thorburn, Peluso.

Things are different now. The actual meritocracy was established circa November 2017. I do believe PauMau learned a thing or two.

Hutchinson will probably get a one-way contract with some team, and he's earned it.

(I'm pretty sure Hutchinson is not the only player who has "asked for a trade")
 

HPsauce

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Yea, because all those so goals beating him short side, and 5 hole, getting beat clean all the time last season must have been the Jets not giving him a fair chance.

How lame is this?

I love how Hextall calls him on his BS "I'm and NHL goalie" then why would be so concerned about the AHL all star game? His game the next day might have been very different. A big "me" guy clearly.

Bye!

Can't wait to play against him
 

mcpw

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I'm also pretty sure that Petan, Matthias, and Dano have "asked to be traded". And probably Pardy, Klingberg, O'Dell and Galiardi before them.

I think that happens all the time, in every organization. We didn't hear about Kane's and Bogosian's trade requests for a long time. A "trade request" doesn't mean the player walks into Chevy's office bawling and stomping his feet, and refuses to put in work unless he's traded. It's just an informal conversation between an agent and a GM, the agent says something like "a trade would help my client's career and it might benefit your organization too as my client doesn't seem to be in your team's plans anyway" and business continues as usual. Frank Vatrano was just traded, and I'm pretty sure he asked for a trade, but nobody will ever know unless he talks to the media. Hutchinson did, big deal.
 

ATLbound

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Sounds like he's making a bunch of excuses for not getting the role he wants and his declining performance.

Nowhere does he take responsbility for his play in the spots that I can see.

He has never taken any responsibility in his career. Every interview I see him in post game after a bad game or loss, he has a bag of excuses and blame but never points out maybe he was bad or let in softies. Something a mature NHL goalie does. He is a baby. He had plenty of chances and was good in the playoff year, last year he was awful. Im sure if a team wanted him he likely would have been dealt by now. Guy is an AHL starter or a below average NHL starter at best. Pull out the bag all you want Hutch but its a winning and results business and you haven't proven anything minus some good games here and there
 

Ducky10

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Here's a guy who gets it.

"It’s not rec hockey, where you pay your $185 bucks and everybody gets fair ice time. You get your chance to do something, you need to do something."

Unless you're Pavelec, Stuart, Thorburn, Peluso.

Things are different now. The actual meritocracy was established circa November 2017. I do believe PauMau learned a thing or two.

Hutchinson will probably get a one-way contract with some team, and he's earned it.

(I'm pretty sure Hutchinson is not the only player who has "asked for a trade")
Reality is after his hot stretch after first coming up, he was no better than Pavs, probably worse for a time.

Imo there really isn't much in Hutch that screams NHL starter, just watch him play.
 

JetsFan815

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HUTCHINSON: I always find it funny people think I had opportunities to run with it. My first year in St. John’s, I got to play a ton of games and help the team make the playoffs. The next season, I started off the year with the Jets 4-0; had really good numbers and then I didn’t play for two weeks. At the time I get called into the office and the explanation was more the business side of things. So you don’t play for two weeks. Then I get some migraine problems in November and battled through those. By the time you get back to feeling 100 per cent you’re not playing a ton.

Say what you will about Hutch, he is exactly right about this part. He is also all of us who were absolutely baffled for all those years in the Pavelec era about why no other goalie was given a shot to run with it when Pavs was being Pavs. I remember pulling my hair out when Montoya was lighting it up yet he was not being played when we were clearly losing games because of goaltending.

This confirms what many of us have suspected all this time. There was some sort of directive from the upper management to the coaching staff about the goalie situation and Pavs being given such a long leash was not solely a "hockey-related" reason as many would like us to believe.
 

Georgetown Al

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If I was Hutch and watched first hand as a garbage goaltender with an equally crap personality like Pavelec stay as the starter for 6 seasons I'd be apoplectic too.

Excellent point...

is it just me or do we need a Hutch and Mason Goalie faceoff in order to figure out which one to keep for so far hutch has done better with less games played tho...

Mason is still a mystery...

No?...

Go :jets Go
 

10Ducky10

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There is nothing wrong with having a Dano or a Petan or a Matthias ready to come out of the pressbox. Matthias is over 2m but he is gone. I could ive with having Petan and Dano as the two pressbox forwards next year if that was the team's choice.
Maurice will have a plethora of players to pick from on any given night to dress in the upcoming playoffs.
 

surixon

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Excellent point...

is it just me or do we need a Hutch and Mason Goalie faceoff in order to figure out which one to keep for so far hutch has done better with less games played tho...

Mason is still a mystery...

No?...

Go :jets Go

See my revised post above, the org gave Hutch a few chances to take the job he just couldn't get the job done.
 
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surixon

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Say what you will about Hutch, he is exactly right about this part. He is also all of us who were absolutely baffled for all those years in the Pavelec era about why no other goalie was given a shot to run with it when Pavs was being Pavs. I remember pulling my hair out when Montoya was lighting it up yet he was not being played when we were clearly losing games because of goaltending.

This confirms what many of us have suspected all this time. There was some sort of directive from the upper management to the coaching staff about the goalie situation and Pavs being given such a long leash was not solely a "hockey-related" reason as many would like us to believe.


And yet from mid December of that season to end of February Hutch played 20 games to Pavs 12. So the org did recognize his good start to the season and when he kept his play up was given the starting job. Pavs only got it back when his play waned and Pavs took it back with perhaps the best stretch of hockey in his career.

He was a raw NHL rookie goalie, what was he expecting right off the bat to start his career. When he proved over a long enough stretch to be better than the starter he was given the job, do you think its any different in any other organization with regards to a young goalie trying to win the job.
 
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Georgetown Al

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See my revised post above, the org gave Hutch a few chances to take the job he just couldn't get the job done.

You are not the same person you were a year ago and neither is hutch hell look at what Helle has done...

We all deserve second chances and thirds for that is what being a Winnipeg Jet fan is all about for me anyways...

doesn't make me right tho until we prove who our second goaltender is....

mason hasn't proven yet either....

waiting for one or the other to step up...

Helle needs a backup...

So do all of us fans...
 

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