Former Montreal Canadiens player and GM Serge Savard spoke to the media earlier this week as he held his annual golf tournament at Le Mirage in Terrebonne. Teeing off were members of the 1976 Canadian men’s hockey team, 40 years after winning the first Canada Cup. Legends such as Scotty Bowman and Bobby Orr were on the greens, alongside several Canadiens alums, including Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Guy Lapointe, and Steven Shutt, to name a few.
Savard has always been one to speak his mind, whether what he had to say was positive or negative, but Calder Trophy-winning blueliner Lane Hutson will be pleased to hear that “The Senator” is a fan. The former number 18 gave him very high praise when he said Hutson is probably the most talented player the Canadiens have had since Guy Lafleur.
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He even added that not many people can do what the youngster can do, and while you tend to be worried when you see a 6-foot-4 blueliner rushing down the ice to nail him, the youngster is so agile that he always finds a way to evade. Even though he’s got a small frame, he doesn’t let that get in the way of playing his game to the best of his abilities. It's hard to argue with those comments. When the Canadiens were in the playoffs and the games were very intense, it was the young rearguard who led them in points with five in as many games.
Savard, who played the position and was a member of the Canadiens’ legendary Big Three, knows how to spot a talented player. The former GM was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986 and was also named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players in 2017. As for his former teammate, Larry Robinson, he likened the reaction to Hutson’s arrival in the league to the one people had when Wayne Gretzky joined the NHL. Many said he was too small and would get hurt, but he managed to become the highest-scoring player in history.
Nobody’s saying Hutson will outscore Gretzky, but what’s obvious, however, is that he knows how to use his skill set to his advantage, eluding contact and reading the play on the move. He might only have played 84 games, but it was enough to impress true legends of the game.
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