Final Grade: Matt Hunwick

This report card is a joint effort by Beachie, Sandie, Paul, SlamDunktheFunk and DDC. Stats courtesy of hockey-reference.com and NHL.com

Final Grade: C

Position: D (50gp), LW (1gp)

Vitals: 5'11" / 190 lbs / Age 26 / Shoots L

Drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 7^th round (224^th overall) of the 2004 Entry Draft

Joined Avalanche: November 29, 2011, in a trade that sent prospect Colby Cohen to Beantown.

MHH Nicknames:

Linemates:

F: Dupuis & Yip 1gp 0g 0a 0p -1

• Foote 16gp 0g 3a 3pt -7
• Shattenkirk 11gp 0g 1a 1pt -2
• Holos 9gp 0g 2a 2pt -5
• Gaunce 5gp 0g 3a 3pt Even
• Johnson 5gp 0g 0a 0pt -2
• O'Byrne 1gp 0g 1a 1pt +1
• Wilson 1gp 0g 0a 0pt -1
• 7^th D 1gp 0g 0a 0pt -1

Avs with Hunwick in the lineup: 15-29-7 (.363 pt%) 2.45 GF 3.65 GA

Ice Time:

• TTOI 19:30 (8^th)
• EV 15:36 (7^th)
• PK 2:22 (6^th)
• PP 1:31 (9^th)

Career Highlights: Appeared in his 200^th NHL game on February 26, 2011, vs. the LA Kings.

Report: Hunwick started off slowly with the Avalanche, to say the least. In addition to not producing, he was a seeming liability. His play was so questionable, in fact, that a Twitter hashtag of #BlameHunwick not only started trending, but it also ended up on the entry gate at the Avs' practice facility in Centennial. Why Joe Sacco continued to play him over other fan favorites like Jonas Holøs and Cameron Gaunce became a familiar subject across the Avalanche blogosphere. It seemed the coach knew something we fans didn't, however, as Hunwick's play improved, eventually making him a solid player on a broken team. Between mid-February and the end of the season, he put up 7 of his 10 points with the Avs and logged as high as 27:52 minutes of ice time. Hunwick's season certainly was a case of Jekyll and Hyde.

Fun Fact: In 2008, Hunwick had a six-game scoring streak, tying the Bruin's record for rookie defensemen set by Ray Bourque

The Matt Hunwick Drinking Game: Drink when someone comments about how bad Hunwick is. Drunk potential: Higher than it should be.

What We Said Last Year: NA

2010 Cap Hit: $1,450,000

2011 Status: RFA ($1,450,000 QO)

Outlook for Next Season: Frankly, we still don't "get" the Hunwick trade. We traded something we don't have a lot of - a big, young blueliner with a good shot who didn't seem afraid of mixing it up a bit - for something we have an abundance of - another smallish, mobile defenseman. While Hunwick did settle down last year after a very poor post-trade start, he never quite wowed us to a point where we said "yeah, that trade makes sense now." Will we ever see that? Hunwick has never scored more than 30 points in a season (college, AHL or NHL). The Avalanche blueline projects to be crowded next year, making it tough to project where he fits into the grand scheme of things, other than helping them get to the cap floor with that $1.5 million salary.

Next Up: Adam Foote