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

[Stephen]

This is always such a cliche.

Good humble guy falters in Toronto, goes somewhere else and proves the ignorant Toronto crowd wrong. Well, we all knew the defense was a problem but so was Hutch.

All the more reason to cheer for a Dallas blowout win in Game 7.

 

[CDN24]

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

If they ever trade him to someone with D-men and a defense we will see how good he is, and by the same token if they replace him with someone from a team with d-men and defensive structure the new guy will look bad - real bad. Freddy is not best goalie in the league but he is in the top 10 IMO. Anybody else with that D is going to see a decline

 

[al secord]

This isn't even the worst thread on this board. That's sad.

 

[ponder]

Toronto is one of the hardest places to be a goalie. We’re almost always weak defensively, and have MASSIVE media pressure. The team/environment has a HUGE impact on a goalie’s success/stats/perception.

Hutch isn’t great, but he’s a serviceable NHL backup. He’s on a hot streak right now, playing in an environment with less media pressure, behind an outstanding team.

Andersen is certainly a good goalie, a quality, above average starter. He has overall done very well in one of the hardest places to succeed as a goalie. If we deal him this offseason, it’s because he’s a year away from UFA, and we know we won’t have the $$$ to re-sign him. It’s about the cap/contract, not his ability as a goalie. He’s roughly a top 10 goalie in the league, and if we deal him, his replacement will almost certainly be a step down.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

So 3 games? Where his team scored 6, 4 and 3 goals?

 

[ACC1224]

This is always such a cliche.

Good humble guy falters in Toronto, goes somewhere else and proves the ignorant Toronto crowd wrong. Well, we all knew the defense was a problem but so was Hutch.

All the more reason to cheer for a Dallas blowout win in Game 7.

Toronto crowd doesn’t have anything to do with it, they didn’t trade him

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

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

Have a look at what Lou brought in for D while here.

 

[Menzinger]

Folks really need to get passed the idea that just beacuse an ex Leaf has a couple good games on their new team, it's a massive revelation on what they are as a player and were misused here.

It's a guy having a couple hot games. That's all.

 

[TheScandal89]

What this shows is our goalies arent as bad as our defence is making them look.

Defence and softness is our biggest problem, wasn't defence and toughness a staple for what our team used to be known for when they actually won.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

What this shows is our goalies arent as bad as our defence is making them look.

Defence and softness is our biggest problem, wasn't defence and toughness a staple for what our team used to be known for when they actually won.

2 games shows literally nothing. Hutchinson had more than 2 games at this level with the Leafs

 

[Antropovsky]

I dont know analytics.... but whenever i watched leaf games the leafs seemed to always allow much more difficult shots. Odd man rushes, breakaways and shots from the slot and not from the east and west corners.

I hated our system... seemed like an unorganized $#$# show most of the time. Defensemen are joining the rush but consistently forwards are forgetting to cover.

Still...hutch seemed like a crap goalie....Andersen on the other hand, i think could look sensational for a team like the Islanders. But that is another story

 

[Dirty Dan]

This is always such a cliche.

Good humble guy falters in Toronto, goes somewhere else and proves the ignorant Toronto crowd wrong. Well, we all knew the defense was a problem but so was Hutch.

All the more reason to cheer for a Dallas blowout win in Game 7.

No Kadri and the Avs are taking this game

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

What this shows is our goalies arent as bad as our defence is making them look.

Yeah it’s all the defence. That’s why Hutch was the only one of our three NHL goalies to have a GAA over three and a save percentage under .900

Our defence is an issue to be sure, but it doesn’t completely absolve the struggles Hutchinson and Freddy experienced this season. There does need to be some personal responsibility from our netminders.

 

[CapspaceKiller]

He's in the net for a game 7 lol. The avalanche must be terrified.

 

[justashadowof]

Hutchinson was absolutely terrible for the Leafs during the 2019-20 season. I'll blame Dubas for many things but he had to do something about Hutchinson who was losing games. Hutchinson has a history of short hot streaks.

 

[ShaneFalco]

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.

Thank you! Once they've moved on its irrelevant what they do. Especially with players that were here for years

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Hutch sucked but Babcock's deployment of him was awful and under no circumstance should a bad backup goalie be a guaranteed loss, the Leafs dropped what 7 dreadful games with Hutch? And people on her shrugged their shoulders and said it would've been literally impossible to not play like crap because the goalie was bad.

I wouldn't say Hutch is "saving the day" but he's not the worst goalie of all time or anything, this team just absolutely sucked for the first part of this season.

 

[klmdg]

Hutch getting ready to go full Hutch

 

[Tairy Greene]

Folks really need to get passed the idea that just beacuse an ex Leaf has a couple good games on their new team, it's a massive revelation on what they are as a player and were misused here.

It's a guy having a couple hot games. That's all.

Exactly. If only we still had Hutchison, Zaitsev and Komorov, then we'd really be a contender!

 

[Rare Jewel]

Hutch sucked but Babcock's deployment of him was awful and under no circumstance should a bad backup goalie be a guaranteed loss, the Leafs dropped what 7 dreadful games with Hutch? And people on her shrugged their shoulders and said it would've been literally impossible to not play like crap because the goalie was bad.

I wouldn't say Hutch is "saving the day" but he's not the worst goalie of all time or anything, this team just absolutely sucked for the first part of this season.

He played in the 2nd of back to backs, how else was supposed to be used?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

What this shows is our goalies arent as bad as our defence is making them look.

Defence and softness is our biggest problem, wasn't defence and toughness a staple for what our team used to be known for when they actually won.

What it shows is he had a couple good games

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

When you lose your first 7 or 8 games no matter how many goals the team scores you are the problem

 

[Kurtz]

Hutch is back to his normal trash self today. I wonder if The Star will write a retraction?

 

[Srsly]

Sigh, looks like he’s crumbling again. With Hutchinson it’s almost always mental. He looks great until he makes a small mistake, at which point his confidence is shaken and he just can’t perform anymore. It’s a shame because he’s actually pretty capable in terms of athleticism. I actually hope Colorado takes the series despite the media spin. I’m not even sure why, I just like the idea of Kadri winning a cup.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Dont forget Par Lindholm