Club high on Hutchinson

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This article was published 16/09/2014 (4020 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The numbers on Michael Hutchinson’s NHL resumé are tasty, but as thin as a bus station steak.

They read: Three games played for the Winnipeg Jets last spring with a 2-1 record, 1.64 goals-against average and .943 save percentage.

So, while No. 1 puckstopper Ondrej Pavelec will be under the microscope when the Jets open training camp later this week, it could be said some of the attention he draws will inadvertently include Hutchinson — the man listed behind him on the depth chart and still trying to establish himself as a bona fide NHLer.

“I’m coming in with the same mindset as last year,” said the 24-year-old Hutchinson Monday. “I still have a lot to prove. I’m just going to come in and take it one day at a time and try and help the team win as many games as I can and just work hard every day.

“I think it’ll be great. We’ll both be able to push each other. The main focus is to help the team win games and if we can both do that, we’ll have a successful season.”

Hutchinson, originally a third-round draft choice of the Boston Bruins in 2008 but cut adrift last year before signing with Winnipeg, was one of the most compelling stories in the Jets organization last year.

He had posted good numbers with Providence in the AHL in 2012-13 when his camp spoke to Jets assistant GM Craig Heisinger last summer. He was made no promises, but simply offered an opportunity. Hutchinson ended up playing in the ECHL, NHL and helped lead the St. John’s IceCaps to the Calder Cup final.

While his numbers with the Jets may be of a small sample size, what he did in the ECHL and AHL are positively gaudy. They also reconfirmed his decision to sign with Winnipeg.

‘I think it’ll be great. We’ll both be able to push each other. The main focus is to help the team win games and if we can both do that, we’ll have a successful season’

— Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson

“Zinger (Heisinger) was pretty upfront and honest with me,” said Hutchinson. “Sometimes in hockey, management is a little bit secretive about their plans. Right from the get-go, right before I signed he was upfront with me in telling me I was going to start in the East Coast League. There would be opportunities to move up, but I’d have to prove myself.

“Just having that kind of challenge and knowing that Zinger is one of the standup guys in the hockey world and true to his word, I ended up taking a chance and it ended up paying off.

“After Boston didn’t sign me… I was young, but had fairly decent numbers in the American league for not playing a ton of games. I thought I was going to get another chance with another organization pretty easy. Then free agency came and a month goes by and you’re still sitting there without a team… it definitely wasn’t how I thought it was going to go.”

The rest, however, couldn’t have unfolded more perfectly for the Barrie, Ont., product. Yes, in the span of nine months he went from a name that simply came across the transaction wire one day to a man who could bite into Pavelec’s starts.

“At the end of the season was the time I really could take a step back and look at what happened throughout the year,” Hutchinson said. “During the season I just focused on playing with whatever team I ended up on and just proving myself. After Boston not re-signing me I felt like I had a lot to prove. This off-season it was nice to take a step back and look at how far I’ve come in just one year.

‘This off-season it was nice to take a step back and look at how far I’ve come in just one year. It was a cool off-season in that regard’

— Hutchinson

“It was a cool off-season in that regard.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait