Back with scars behind the mask

Hutchinson returns after first stint took ugly turn

Of the many occupational hazards of holding down the job as backup goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs — and a steady dose of point-blank rubber is chief among them — Michael Hutchinson can tell you about one that most fans probably haven’t pondered.

In an era that’s seen management spend 50 per cent of the salary cap on four forwards, it’s probably no surprise that Toronto has become known as a cruel place for goaltenders and defencemen. Ex-Leafs blueliner Tyson Barrie was pointing this out on his way out of town last month, how the media can be “tough” and the fans can be “hard on you.” And nobody knows all that more acutely than Hutchinson, who a season ago managed a paltry four wins in 11 starts as Toronto’s No. 2 netminder, and consequently was handed a considerable share of blame for a season that ended up in a playoff miss.

It’s been pointed out, and rightly so, that having a more reliable backup goaltender from the get-go might have changed the whole equation. If Hutchinson had managed to contribute a few more points in the standings — if he’d put up something closer to the league average save percentage of .910, instead of his dismal .886 — maybe the Leafs wouldn’t have had to face the dogged Blue Jackets in the best-of-five playin round, where Toronto lost in five games. Maybe with an easier matchup it could have been their year.

To which Hutchinson would likely shrug and nod, even as the internet vitriol got unnecessarily ugly. In his decade-plus as a pro goaltender who’s nobody’s game-stealing saviour, he’s had to make peace with social media’s uglier side to survive.

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and I think that’s one of the things that makes this hockey market one of the best, is that the fans are so passionate and they’re very opinionated,” he said. “They’re entitled to their opinion.”

Which brings us to the part that might not occur to those who hang athletes in virtual effigy when the game doesn’t go their way.

“With all the pressures of Toronto, it’s not just yourself that feels it,” he said. “There’s definitely times where you can tell it wears on your wife, your parents, your friends. And you just have to let them know it doesn’t bother you. And once they know you’re fine, it’s easier for them to brush it off as well.”

It says something about the thickness of the Hutchinson family’s collective skin, of course, that he was saying all this on the occasion of his returning to the scene of the online meanness.

Given how poorly it went a season ago, it’s reasonable to ask: Why on earth would he come back? With Frederik Andersen, Jack Campbell and Aaron Dell ahead of him on thedepth chart, he’s here, make no mistake, as an insurance policy who’ll play most likely for the Marlies. Considering that as Hutchinson was saying Monday, “all the seats at the NHL goalie table were kind of filled up” during this unprecedented off-season, certainly it’s hard to beat the conditions in Toronto. The Leafs can afford to pay him a relatively lavish AHL salary of $350,000 (U.S.), which is a little less than half of the annual average of $725,000 he’d be paid with the big club should his emergency services be required. It helps, too, that Toronto’s AHL and NHL teams reside in the same city; shuttling between Springfield, Mass., and Florida a couple of seasons ago wasn’t a great experience for him and his wife. Add in the fact that Hutchinson is a former Barrie OHL star whose parents still live there, and that he’s the father of a new baby, and the GTA makes sense.

For the Leafs, it’s about doing something they’ve previously made the mistake of not doing: stocking up on goaltending depth. First and foremost, Hutchinson’s two-year deal makes him exposable in the coming Seattle expansion draft; every team needs to make one goaltender available. And though Hutchinson insisted Monday that he hasn’t thought ahead to such a possibility, it’s undoubtedly a factor in his presence here. Also, you’ll remember the disaster that ensued a couple of seasons ago when Leafs goaltending options Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard were plucked from the waiver wire at the season’s outset. That left Garret Sparks as the only viable option beyond Andersen. And it didn’t go well.

This time the Leafs will come to training camp, whenever it begins, with four goaltenders who’ve played NHL games of late. Andersen will be in a contract year. Campbell will be the incumbent backup, but he’ll presumably be pushed by Dell. And if the Leafs want to send Dell to the Marlies, he’ll require waivers, which means he could be lost. Which means Hutchinson, under that circumstance, could be an injury away from another NHL stint.

That’s probably not how Leafs GM Kyle Dubas would draw it up. Still, it’s worth remembering that Hutchinson wasn’t exactly set up for success last season in Toronto. His first five starts came on the second end of back-to-back sets; four of those five opponents hadn’t played the night before. And yes, Hutchinson lost all of those starts and one more before he managed his first win, but he didn’t exactly have it easy. Among goaltenders who played in at least 10 games last season, only Corey Crawford faced more high-danger shots per 60 minutes than Hutchinson did playing for the defensively suspect Leafs.

Still, long after the Leafs acquired Campbell and Hutchinson was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in the Calle Rosen deal, Hutchinson did enjoy some significant success. He won twice in three playoff starts after the Avalanche lost goaltenders Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz to injury. Which means Hutchinson, against considerable odds, won two more playoff games than the Leafs did.

“I hope it’s not the last game I play in the playoffs. But it’s something that, at the end of my career, I think I’ll look back on as something that was definitely a special moment,” Hutchinson said.

Not that he’s expecting a hero’s welcome in the centre of the hockey universe. The notion that Friday’s signing was met with rolled-eyes emojis and various unkind expressions of disbelief probably wouldn’t shock him. Toronto’s a cruel enough place that a stint here turned the wife of ex-Leafs goaltender James Reimer, April Reimer, into an public advocate for kinder internet discourse. It’s an honourable pursuit, but it’s like trying to beat back a tsunami with a squeegee.

As Hutchinson was saying, you’re not going to control Toronto’s penchant for nastiness. The trick is to make sure it doesn’t control you.

“There’s a lot of pressures that come with (playing for the Leafs), and you learn to not let it affect you and life outside of the rink,” he said. “Just because things aren’t going great at the rink doesn’t mean you can stop being a good teammate or a good person.”

“With all the pressures of Toronto, it’s not just yourself that feels it.”

MICHAEL HUTCHINSON