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

[Bluelines]

I think if you're going to look at 2 games of Hutchinson playing well as proof he's a great goalie, you should be talking about Kiviranta being the next Gretzky. Why is one worth an article and the other is a fluke?

You may want to reread that article if what you interpreted was the article said he's is a future HOFer.

 

[Bigmarycombo]

everyone had a hard on for hutch winning a couple of games in the playoffs then back to reality. This is exactly why he is a backup.
He can’t win the big game.

We didn’t lose in the playoffs the last couple of years because we were outhit we lost because our goalie dint make the big save when it counted.

demko saved 48 shots to give his team a chance. Not once in the last four years has Freddy done that for us. Not once. Time to move on from him.

Posters can make up any trade they want involving marner but he is not being traded.

Dermott Johnsson and Kerfoot will go first if we need space. This core will stay for at least another two years.

 

[Gallagbi]

You may want to reread that article if what you interpreted was the article said he's is a future HOFer.

I can't imagine anyone reading that headline and wanting to read any further. I'm still amazed someone thought it was thread worthy.

 

[Bluelines]

I can't imagine anyone reading that headline and wanting to read any further. I'm still amazed someone thought it was thread worthy.

Three observations:

• 2,300 views would suggest your opinion, in this cases, is not consistent with what people want to read.
• Yet you came into the thread, read it and posted - sounds like a contradiction to the post I'm replying to eh?
• Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Gallagbi]

Three observations:

• 2,300 views would suggest your opinion, in this cases, is not consistent with what people want to read.
• Yet you came into the thread, read it and posted - sounds like a contradiction to the post I'm replying to eh?
• Different strokes for different folks.

What can I say, I love a good car crash

 

[Menzinger]

Goaltending is always a reflection of the defense core in front of them and the system their team plays.

They're certainly connected but not so sure I'd agree.

A guy in a hot streak can outplay a lousy D core, and when a goalie is on a cold one, even the best D pairing in the league can't stop a softy from going in.

This gets really exemplified during a short playoff series

 

[qqaz]

I liked Hutch when he was with Winnipeg. I was happy we got him when we did, and believed he would be a worthwhile backup here.

That said, he clearly wasn't good enough here. No reason to sugar coat it. He had to be replaced, and was. Now we're better for it.

Hope the best for him, but wouldn't look back for a second. He's probably only ever going to be a 3rd string guy for any team. Teams tend to like having a Hutchinson, Budaj type buried in the AHL in case of extreme disaster. So he'll float around somewhere.

 

[shaner8989]

Realize what? How bad he is? Great move by the leafs to not bring this plug back.

 

[TOGuy14]

He has been equally as bad for Colorado, they just score enough goals to keep him in the W column more often

 

[Dirty Dan]

Hutchinson COSTED avs their whole season

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Didn't he play in Winnipeg and did fairly well there? That seems to be what I remember, but not sure.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

...you think scoring 4 goals per game and allowing 4 goals per game is "trap hockey"?

Watch Stars play ... they are not as good at it as CBJs or Cane's but they do not chase in corners they force you to come into middle of ice and rely on their goalie for outside shots ... other issue is Avs are very very fast and have skill as well so much harder to contain ... our Leafs are just not fast enough to break it ... we have more skill but not at same speed level as Avs

 

[Warden of the North]

He was demonstrably a bad goalie here.

What a stupid article.

 

[downer ending]

The only Leafs game I went to this year was his shutout against the Islanders. I remember finding out he was starting that night and my girlfriend and I were pissed because we figured we were gonna lose for sure. But it ended up being one of the funnest games of the season.

Would he have won a couple more games this season if we had better defence? Probably maybe. But you're talking like, 2 or 3 wins max. He was not a good goalie.

And it didn't take him giving up 5 goals to the stars in game 7 to make us realize that, that's for sure.

 

[Merrrlin]

What a great thread to look back on.

Hutch plays mediocre hockey and Kadri has two awful mistakes causing both the tying goal and the winning goal in OT.

Aged like fine milk.

 

[Merrrlin]

Didn't he play in Winnipeg and did fairly well there? That seems to be what I remember, but not sure.

He had a good start but went downhill quickly which was why they moved on from him.

 

[Atareez]

What a great thread to look back on.

Hutch plays mediocre hockey and Kadri has two awful mistakes causing both the tying goal and the winning goal in OT.

Aged like fine milk.

atleast Kadri didn't get suspended again lol

 

[Morbo]

atleast Kadri didn't get suspended again lol

Someone will now explain the mistakes by saying he HAD to make the mistakes! nobody else on the team was doing it, he had to step up!!@!

 

[Spargon]

Love Toronto media, when Hutch was here with his 4.00+ GAA and sub .900 people were lambasting Dubas for not fixing it. Dubas does and the guy gets 2 fluke wins in the playoff and then the same media morons are trying to throw it back as if letting him go was a mistake.

This is why I have stopped reading all opinion pieces in the media Tort's was bang on the majority of our "pundits" are clueless idiots that think they know but don't. TSN and Sportsnet are littered with guys who tanked teams when they were executives giving their opinions.... I can't take it seriously

 

[Joey Hoser]

Someone will now explain the mistakes by saying he HAD to make the mistakes! nobody else on the team was doing it, he had to step up!!@!

If Kadri dropped the gloves and made the guy fight, then I would completely understand talking about how he "stood up". But he didn't, he just crosschecked the guy in the face. That's stupid.

 

[Morbo]

If Kadri dropped the gloves and made the guy fight, then I would completely understand talking about how he "stood up". But he didn't, he just crosschecked the guy in the face. That's stupid.

That entire narrative is shamefully disingenuous. Childish attempt to flip Kadri's lack of discipline back onto Dubas.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

What a great thread to look back on.

Hutch plays mediocre hockey and Kadri has two awful mistakes causing both the tying goal and the winning goal in OT.

Aged like fine milk.

Those mistakes & info are true, but did they not play pretty well for the most part excluding those bad plays?

 

[Legion34]

Hutchinson COSTED avs their whole season

kadri actually did more damage in game 7

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Michael Hutchinson is saving the day for the Avalanche — and making Leafs fans realize maybe he wasn’t the problem


Michael Hutchinson is saving the day for the Avalanche — and making Leafs fans realize maybe he wasn’t the problem

If you were to create a list of unlikely heroes for the Stanley Cup playoffs, Michael Hutchinson’s name would probably be at the top of it.

Given the year he had with the Maple Leafs, the mere idea that he’d be the Avalanche’s go-to netminder in Friday’s Game 7 against the Dallas Stars would seem ludicrous.

And to think that he’d be 2-0 in elimination games in the playoffs — a third-stringer jumping in when Dallas had a 3-1 series lead, was in seeming control and Colorado had no other choice — well, what alternate universe would you be inhabiting?

But here we are.

“A lot of hockey is being in the right place at the right time,” said Hutchinson. “And being able to take advantage of certain opportunities as they come up. Everything going on with the bubble, it’s absurd and surreal at the same time.

“It’s one of those things that happens. For myself, I’ve been able to play quite a few NHL games, practise with teams for a few years. I always felt my game was in a place where if I got an opportunity, I could be successful.”

Counting regular season, playoffs and a relief appearance, Hutchinson is 3-0 as a member of the Avalanche, with a 1.59 GAA and .940 save percentage, and the team has full confidence in him with its season in the balance.

“I had no doubts,” said Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon. “When he came from Toronto, he played really well for us. We had no reason to believe he wouldn’t play well. He hasn’t played for a while, but he was looking great in practice, working hard, great training camp.

“It’s not easy for him. The composure he had. He’s a big guy, takes up a lot of room. He’s definitely stepped up.”

If you’re a Leafs fan, maybe you’ll have to consider that perhaps Hutchinson wasn’t the problem.

In Toronto, Hutchinson went 4-9-1 with a 3.66 GAA and .886 save percentage. Out of the 64 goalies who’d played at least 10 games, his save percentage was the 63rd best by the time the Leafs traded him to Colorado for defenceman Calle Rosen.

He hasn’t lost as an Av, winning the only regular-season game he played prior to the coronavirus pandemic-induced pause, and now stepping in for injured Pavel Francouz, who’d stepped in for the injured Philipp Grubauer.

So what’s the difference?

“It’s two different teams,” says former goalie Martin Biron. “Two different situations. When Hutchinson was with the Leafs, a lot of times, that was a back-to-back situation. The team did not do great in front of him.
“Now he’s in the playoffs with Colorado. And as far as his first game, it was 5-0 before he could blink. For a goalie, that feels great. You don’t have to put so much pressure (on yourself). Then he wins, then he adopts the position: ‘Hey, let’s go have fun.’

“Then he plays really well in Game 6. The mental approach changes.”

Digging deeper, Hutchinson saved 78.8 per cent of shots deemed to be highly dangerous as a Leaf, and 88.4 per cent of the ones deemed highly dangerous as an Avalanche, according to naturalstattrick.com.
If the difference is largely the team in front of the goalie, Biron says, then the Leafs would be wise to think twice about moving starter Frederik Andersen, as has been rumoured lately.

“I cannot believe the Leafs would be looking at acquiring a different goalie than Frederik Andersen,” said Biron. “The guy has save their ass more than once. They play a very entertaining style of hockey, but I do believe the Grade A chances the Leafs give up are A-plus, plus, plus, and he’s had to save the day. That’s a tough place to be as a goaltender.

Hutchinson sucks he started what? 0-7? 0-8? that's not on the defense that's proof he sucks even Sparks didn't do that.

Hutchinson also blew it for the Avalanche so yeah proof he sucks