I love it. The leafs wanted to give Anderson more rest. Keefe does that. He also lets hutch perform his game day routine instead of making Freddy f up his. Smart decisions by a coach can lead to good things.

All I see is a coach that's desperate to prove to the world that he isn't Mike Babcock.

Nah, that has nothing to do with it. It's a matinee and that is weird so they gave the anomaly to the backup who is used to those since they happen in the AHL all the time

Sound reasoning for a 4pm game

Gonna be interesting how many Leaf fans complain about the NHL schedule, if the Leafs lose the Saturday game on this back to back. The fact that it's the two same teams playing on the back to back will probably have no bearing in their thought process.
LoganOliver above made a good reason above for the starting Hutch.....He's used to afternoon games. Hutchinson has played very well in the few games he has played with the Marlies since he was demoted. His NHL career might be on the line on this game and next few more . Leafs gotta know if they can live with him the rest of the year. I have to give Hutchinson a break though. The Leafs have played poorly in front of him this season.

I've heard the reasoning
Awfully convenient

The last three games, have shown Keefe isn't Mike Babcock. All NHL coaches, wouldn't want be the the 2017 to 2019 version of Mike Babcock.

Bill Peters would settle for it I bet

Just looking for drama are we?

IMO, the only trait that other (reasonable) coaches admire in Babcock is how he suckered the Leafs into a eight year, front loaded, expensive contract.

Bill Peters. Yep, he seems to be a jerk. But years ago when Hawks and Rockford executives knew about the "slur" situation, their solution was to send the player to the ECHL. To me the lack of corrective action and "defending your own" is the most repulsive aspect of the situation.

Hopefully the Leafs continue to play hard right off the hop like they have done since Keefe took over. Start fast and give Hutch a lot of support and we should get a win today. Buffalo has a tonne of injuries and their depth is not close to that of the Leafs. Hopefully Hutch can get some confidence here.

You are on fire today good sir! Really well thought out responses.

Just sharing an opinion

Tough crowd to tell a joke to

Lol

This is spot on.

It blows my mind how when situations like this find the light of day there's so many apologies that happen with a rush for management and executives to say these types of actions aren't acceptable. They know what's gone on and for the most part they got each other's backs, imo.

I bet the NHL is taking its time with the Peters investigation cause they need to get it right - they know there's several more situations just like Aliu's, or worse, that could come to light at any time.

But why? Its seems like an awfully big stretch to suggest that this isn't the obvious and is instead a weird attempt of the new coach just trying to do the opposite of the old one. Keefe is definitely different but that's because he is....you know....different than Babs. That's it, and his reasoning on this one is sound. Hutch is used to playing Matinees and now you have Andersen for the 2nd game.

Everything he has done to this point seems the opposite of Babs to the point of it being contrived, that's all.

Just spewing hot takes. This sort of over reaction drama is what bugs me about Leafs Nation. We have a huge portion of the fan base that just gripe about everything. Things go well, its not good enough, things go bad and its the end of the world. Its too much.

Keefe is a very different coach than Babs, thats all this is, there is no ulterior motive by Keefe to really distance himself from Babs, he's just doing things the way he wants to do things.

lol okay there champ

keeping fishing for drama and controversy there boss.

I'm not fishing for anything. It's an opinion that's not yours and you just attacked me over it.

Cool