The 3 worst Leafs backups of the past 10 seasons
There are few jobs more mentally taxing in sports than that of the backup goaltender, and few that are less appreciated. You work just as hard as the starter, but spend most games on the bench watching the action. When you do get in for a start, it's often expected that you'll lose. If you're coached by Mike Babcock, you only play on the second half of back to backs. When you are sent in mid game, you go in cold, often behind an underperforming team. The truth is, a good backup can make all the difference in the world to a team. It can make or break a bid to make the playoffs, sink a playoff run or become an unlikely feel good story.
With that, let's take a look at the best and worst of Leafs backup goaltenders of the last decade. Starting with the worst.
3. Michael Hutchinson
Poor Hutch. The guy gave everything he had for the Leafs, unfortunately, he didn't have a whole lot to give. He was never shockingly bad, he just wasn't, well, good. The right handed netminder appeared in 30 games over 3 seasons as a Leaf, spending most of his time in the organization with the Toronto Marlies. His .898sv% and 3.18GAA were rough, even by backup goalie standards.
2. Petr Mrazek
Mrazek was only with the Leafs for 1 season, brought in as a 1B to Jack Campbell's 1A. Unfortunately things went completely off the rails almost immediately. Mrazek spent much of the season injured. When he wasn't, he was a liability between the pipes. He was all over his net and often overcommitted, finding himself out of position and swimming constantly. It's a shock he didn't land at #1 on this list, but there was, somehow, someone worse.
I mean, seriously, how do you miss this?
1. Garret Sparks
Ooof. One of the biggest missteps of Kyle Dubas' tenure was putting Curtis McElhinney on waivers in order to keep Garret Sparks. Sure, he got a shutout in his first career start, but the tears in his post game interview were about as pathetic as his performance after that night. With a 5 hole a mile wide and a habit of throwing all technique out the window, Sparks was horrendous over his 37 game Leafs career. All the sexy equipment in the world couldn't help the man stop pucks. He would be replaced by Michael Hutchinson in 2019.
Fun fact: Sparks moonlights as a DJ playing under the stage name Bucky Cheds and played Lollapalooza last year.
On the bright side, it was Sparks' subpar netminding that lead to the infamous Matthews Vs Kane celly-off
In my next piece, we'll go over the a list of the 3 best backup netminders in Toronto over the last 10 seasons.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 3 | 197 ANSWERS The 3 worst Leafs backups of the past 10 seasons Who is the worst backup goalie in Toronto over the past decade? | ||
| Garret Sparks | 54 | 27.4 % |
| Michael Hutchinson | 51 | 25.9 % |
| Petr Mrazek | 82 | 41.6 % |
| Other | 10 | 5.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
