Toronto Maple Leafs: Michael Hutchinson to Replace Sparks as Backup

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Michael Hutchinson will replace Garrett Sparks as the backup goaltender. Sparks has been shaky being 2-8-0 with a 3.37 goals-against average and .895 save percentage in the last 11 games. Hutchinson was called up from AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies. This season for the Leafs, Hutchinson had five starts, with a 2-3-0 record in January

“I’ve been with a lot of really good goalies, and there are times that it doesn’t go as good and 10 days off, you work with the goalie coach and you get it back. It’s just this is at the end of the regular season, it’s different than a 10-day hiatus in the middle of the year. Let’s just go through the process here. He won a Calder Cup last year for the organization, so I think it’s important we treat him right and help him get his game to where it should be at,” Head coach Mike Babcock said.

Babcock stated that Sparks needed a fresh start. He is sticking with his decision by having Hutchinson backup Fredrik Anderson fo the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They will play the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Eastern Conference. Boston is favored to win the round and Toronto fans hope to see a surprise. Tonight Toronto play their final regular season game against the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; CBC, NHLN, TVAS, SN, SN1, NHL.TV).

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