Standing 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Michael Hutchinson's shoulders are as sturdy as they come as he carries not only the weight of his team but that of his city.

Hutchinson, the starting goaltender for his hometown Barrie Colts, made a quick ascension from promising backup to emerging superstar in a few short months last season. Recognizing his talent, the Colts made room for their rising star near the trade deadline by dealing veteran Andrew Perugini to the Sarnia Sting.

Barrie head coach Marty Williamson knew he had a keeper in Hutchinson but even he was surprised by how well his new starter performed.

"We knew the team was going to go younger (last season) and there was no sense having a 19-year-old goalie when we had a young goalie that we felt was going to be our future," Williamson said. "We felt the timing was right. We sure didn't expect to see what he did in the playoffs for us."

What Williamson and the rest of the Ontario Hockey League saw can be described simply as a goaltending clinic. Hutchinson's Colts were heavy underdogs against the talented and veteran-laden Brampton Battalion in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite finishing 26 points behind the Battalion in the standings, Brampton was hardly able to generate offence as the first-year starting goaltender posted a 0.965 save percentage in the series. Hutchinson was at his best in the final two games of the five game series where he stopped 96 of 97 Brampton shots to carry Barrie past Brampton.

He parlayed his post-season whiteout into a third-round selection at the National Hockey League draft by the Boston Bruins.

"We knew we had a good goalie. The fact he rose so quickly in that second half was a bit of a surprise to us," Williamson said. "He really put himself on the map with that Brampton series. It takes a special kind of goalie to go in and do what he did in that series."

"That really showed us that anyone can beat anyone on any given night," Hutchinson said. "It gave our younger players a lot of confidence knowing we can pull off big upsets and there's no team in the league we can't compete against."

The ride ended the following round when the Colts were swept by the Belleville Bulls. However, the first-round upset laid the groundwork for what could be another exciting season in Barrie, Ont. while the fans continue to support one of their own.

As a kid growing up in Barrie, Hutchinson dreamt of one day playing for the Colts. Barrie was granted the OHL franchise beginning in the 1995-96 season, when Hutchinson was just five-years old. It was there that a wide-eyed youngster became fixated with the position he has come to dominate.

"I remember one of my first Colts games I went to I didn't remember the final score because I was just watching what the goalies were doing," Hutchinson admitted.

"I can pretty much name off every single Barrie Colts goalie over the years," he said, adding without hesitation that it was Chris Thompson whom he watched with such enthusiasm as a youngster.

As special as it has been for Hutchinson to become a starter in the OHL, it's amplified by the fact he's playing for his hometown team. Very few players in the Canadian Hockey League enjoy the luxury of playing in their hometown, even fewer are those who do it in Barrie. Hutchinson is the first Barrie product to be drafted by and play for the Colts.

Nowhere is his passion and dedication to his hometown more evident than on his mask. Hutchinson proudly boasts the city's historical landmark, the Spirit Catcher, as a tribute to the city. The Spirit Catcher is a 65-foot tall sculpture located in Kempenfelt Bay, Barrie's waterfront, which the city received after it was showcased in Vancouver, B.C. for Expo 86.

"The community means a lot to him and he's very proud to be playing in Barrie for the Colts," Williamson said. "He thought it was a great gesture to put that on his mask."

Teammate and roommate Dalton Prout was quick to praise his goaltender's work ethic in practice, adding that Hutchinson's competitive drive sets him apart from other players his age.

"From shooting on him in practice, his position is always second to none and it's hard to get the puck past him because he's 6-foot-3 and if he's in position, there's not a lot of net to shoot at," Prout said.

If the saying 'success has a way of changing people' is true, then Hutchinson must be the exception to the rule. Less than a year after taking over as Barrie's starting goaltender, Hutchinson has no inclination of letting the job slip away.

"I really want to prove to the coaches they made the right move," he said.

And in making the right move, Williamson and his staff are happy knowing much of their team's success and the hopes of a city rest on the strong, sturdy shoulders of Michael Hutchinson.