Coach Green wants Hutton in ‘to see where he’s at’
Canucks coach Travis Green said scratching veteran defenceman Michael Del Zotto for Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes was about wanting to get a look at Ben Hutton as much as anything else.
Alex Edler, he said, is the only lock on the left side of his defence. It’s up to the other three left-shot blue-liners — Del Zotto, Hutton and Derrick Pouliot — to lock down spots.
“I want Hutton in to see where he’s at,” said Green, adding that scratching Del Zotto wasn’t easy. “He’s a great character guy. Great for our room. Those aren’t easy conversations to have with players.”
Del Zotto played every game last year, but the season is new and so is the calculation it seems.
“The other two guys deserve to play,” he said. “I don’t think DZ’s been terrible. I think he has an argument to stay in the lineup. But I want Hutton back in ... we’re trying to push forward and make our team better, and we need some defencemen to take some steps.”
Green said he was pleased with the way Hutton and Pouliot showed up for camp.
“I thought Derrick and Hutty weren’t on top of their game (last year),” he said. “I told both those guys if they didn’t come back in better shape, they’d be seeing the same results.”
HUTTON HAPPY TO GET HIS CHANCE
“I had a hunch just from the D pairings ... but I didn’t want to say anything,” Hutton said of whether he knew Monday he was going to play.
The news was confirmed to him Tuesday. “I’m excited,” he said.
Despite Hutton putting up some solid defensive numbers, he still drew the ire of Green several times during the season and often found himself a healthy scratch as the season wore on.
Green was especially critical of his fitness. Hutton arrived at the new season’s training camp in excellent shape, something his coach has noted publicly, and was handed a big role during pre-season games. But he still started the season in the press box. He remained upbeat about the opportunity in front of him.
“It’s a fresh start. Last year I wasn’t happy with how the season went,” he said.
Hutton looks likely to partner with Troy Stecher on defence against the Hurricanes. They were a duo that had a fair bit of success last season: They were good at limiting shots against and solid at moving the puck up-ice.
Against the Flames, Stecher spent the first half of the game with Del Zotto, but was then partnered with Pouliot for a few shifts, while Del Zotto was switched to a pairing with Erik Gudbranson. The Stecher-Pouliot pairing was definitely de-emphasized, as Stecher only saw five shifts over the latter 30 minutes of the game.
GREEN WANTS A BETTER BREAKOUT
“We need to break the puck out cleaner,” the coach said.
The problem was especially evident Saturday in Calgary, when the Canucks’ defencemen often found their only passing option was to each other.
Green said his forwards simply needed to do a better job, and that a breakout is a group issue.
“To play fast, it starts in your own zone, how you break the puck out,” he said.