The Star: Michael Hutchinson is saving the day for the Avalanche — and making Leafs fans realize...

[Jmo89]

I mean, Biron isn't wrong about all the primo chances the Leafs give up with their defensive breakdowns....

But I think that says more about how quality a starter Andersen is than anything about Hutchinson.

His numbers in Toronto were orders of magnitude worse than Freddy's while playing with the same team in front.

Yep, agreed regarding Hutchinson. Toronto is bad defensively. This is no secret. However Hutchinson has been bad on multiple teams and continued that trend here.

He's had a few good games for the Avalanche. Good for him, but not everything has to do with Toronto.

 

[Bluelines]

Maybe Hutch received the coaching that he needed in Colorado... a great goalie coach can do wonders for even the most average of goalies...

Colorado's Goalie Coach - Coaches and Staff
Toronto's Goalie Coach - Briere Goaltending | Train with an NHL Goalie Coach

Who's getting more bang for his buck?

 

[LeafGrief]

Maybe Hutch received the coaching that he needed in Colorado... a great goalie coach can do wonders for even the most average of goalies...

Colorado's Goalie Coach - Coaches and Staff
Toronto's Goalie Coach - Briere Goaltending | Train with an NHL Goalie Coach

Who's getting more bang for his buck?

If the goalie coach made the difference, why did Francouz suck such massive...ly?

Goalies can get hot and teams can win despite the goalie. Hutch seems to be playing okay for the Avs, which is nice. But to use that as an indictment of the Leafs defense is an absurd stretch.

 

[Bluelines]

If the goalie coach made the difference, why did Francouz suck such massive...ly?

Goalies can get hot and teams can win despite the goalie. Hutch seems to be playing okay for the Avs, which is nice. But to use that as an indictment of the Leafs defense is an absurd stretch.

I think that you can draw a conclusion the Leafs D was horrid, Hutch was horrid, Andy was Jekyll and Hyde.

 

[DarkKnight]

Common denominator was Babdick wrt backup goalies and tearing them down.

Like McBackup. He did okay.

 

[PromisedLand]

Maybe Hutch received the coaching that he needed in Colorado... a great goalie coach can do wonders for even the most average of goalies...

Colorado's Goalie Coach - Coaches and Staff
Toronto's Goalie Coach - Briere Goaltending | Train with an NHL Goalie Coach

Who's getting more bang for his buck?

If you watched Avs play in their zone, that will tell why Hutch's stats look good. It is more about how Avs play in their zone than Hutch standing on his head.

Avs have been playing responsible defensive hockey since Francouz was injured; they are winning puck races, board battles and are on Benn/Seguin/Perry/Radulov like bee on honey. They are in shooting lanes, blocking shots, and not giving any time and space and have completely neutralized Grade A opportunities.

Avs are taking care of the puck, especially in the d-zone and netural zone and hound the puck like a mad dog in the offensive zone.

Don't take my word for it; just ask any Avs fan or just re-watch the last 2 games.

 

[Bluelines]

Tweeters gotta tweet about Hutch...








https://twitter.com/redmcgraw1/status/1301896531335950336?s=20

 

[ShaneFalco]

A few good playoff games by an ex-Leaf and everyone fk'd up

 

[Suntouchable13]

Hutch is not good but the team in front him also made him look worse. Did not help him one iota.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Avs fan here. He’s working out fine but it’s absurd for people to make it seem like it was a mistake to trade him. Hutchinson was never going to work out in Toronto. The acquisition of Campbell was the right move and he’s actually a better goalie.

Hutchinson wasn’t of use for the Leafs and they got a free asset in Rosen back in return. That’s just management doing their job. If Hutch hypothetically goes on to miraculously fluke his way to a Conn Smythe it should still be completely irrelevant to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Hutchinson stinks and anyone lamenting his loss is an idiot.

Yup. I'm happy for the guy in that he's playing well right now, but let's not pretend that he wasn't absolute garbage in most of his appearances as a Leaf. If memory serve me correctly, the majority of goals he let in were not exactly high danger scoring chances.

 

[ACC1224]

Yup. I'm happy for the guy in that he's playing well right now, but let's not pretend that he wasn't absolute garbage in most of his appearances as a Leaf. If memory serve me correctly, the majority of goals he let in were not exactly high danger scoring chances.

Like the first goal last game, that's a trademark Hutch muff. He would be such a better goalie if he just wore two blockers.

 

[Trapper]

Hutch is not good but the team in front him also made him look worse. Did not help him one iota.

It’s the sum of the parts.

 

[Buds17]

He's doing well with this newfound opportunity. The team is also playing very well in front of and in support of him. It's not as though he was Option A for Colorado though. It'd be easier to dwell on his departure from the Leaf organization if goaltending was the team's one and only setback from advancing further.

 

[pylon17]

Truer words have never been spoken! Leafs defensive game as a team and D-core is a JOKE!

People blaming Freddy do not understand hockey!

I cannot wait till Dubas is fired. I hope it is soon before he damages the team any more

I don't like Dubas either, but Freddy is a s s in do or die games.

 

[Tairy Greene]

Campbell did just fine for us as a backup and that was with an injured Defense. Hutchison was terrible for us, its ridiculous to blame his performance all on our weak defense. He's not an NHL goalie and a few decent performances aren't going to change that.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Lol. Just when you think you've seen it all...

 

[mcleafs]

He's only won 2 games, and both in which his team has gone gang busters and scored three goals each in both first periods. This is a non-story that was only published because he used to play for the Leafs.

 

[htpwn]

Hutchison was a 2B/3A goalie BEFORE he arrived to Toronto. He hadn't played a significant number of games in the NHL since 2017-2018 in Winnipeg, and even then, he was a backup putting up a mediocre .905SV%.

He then proceeded to put up an .886SV% in his 15GP in Toronto. That was probably an aberration (he's probably not .886SV% bad; maybe more .900SV% bad), but fringe NHLers like him don't get the benefit of the doubt. So they traded him.

He's now played three great games in the playoffs, which is great for him. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for the Avs, who I'm rooting for. I don't dislike Hutch in the slightest because he's not a star goalie nor because he had a rough go of it here in Toronto. I actually feel kind of bad having to tear him down as a player. Because its not his fault. The fault lies with the media in this town, who are somehow -- in all their omnipresent stupidity -- making this non-story into a story.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I haven't been feeling well and have been feeling rather blue.
so thanks so much for making me laugh so hard, it really cheered me up.

 

[Brobust]

Remember that game where the leafs gave up like 10 shots and Hutch let in 3 to lose the game?

 

[A1LeafNation]

Like McBackup. He did okay.

Not this year

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Andersen and Campbell both were able to put up at least semi-decent numbers behind our bad defence. Hutch was flat out garbage here. Trying to use his recent hot streak as a “gotcha” is opportunistic.

 

[DarkKnight]

Not this year

Lol, how is that relevant to your Babcock comment?

 

[A1LeafNation]

Lol, how is that relevant to your Babcock comment?

We let him go probably a year too late but still nothing worth keeping long term