{"id":33962,"date":"2025-07-03T00:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T00:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/33962\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T00:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T00:41:09","slug":"cole-hutson-on-what-hes-majoring-in-at-boston-university-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/33962\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole Hutson on what he\u2019s majoring in at Boston University: \u2018Hockey\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON, VA \u2014<\/strong> Defenseman Cole Hutson<\/strong> may be preparing for his sophomore year of college, but his focus is firmly on the ice. Asked about his major at Boston University, Hutson had a simple answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHockey,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Given Hutson\u2019s on-ice performance last season, he\u2019s passing with flying colors. After the Capitals selected him 43rd in the 2024 NHL Draft, he recorded 48 points (14g, 34a) in 19 games as a freshman at BU,\u00a0winning the Tim Taylor Award<\/a> as the NCAA\u2019s rookie of the year and leading all first-year skaters in scoring.<\/p>\n

Hutson acknowledged Wednesday that transitioning to the NCAA wasn\u2019t easy, though he ultimately found success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was obviously really tough on me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a big adjustment, for sure, from the USHL. Just older guys that are more physical coming after you every night. That wore and tore on me every day, as it should. Just did what it takes to get to the next level, and it made me a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the turning points, in his assessment, was playing for Team USA at World Juniors. Hutson was arguably the team\u2019s best player, becoming the first defenseman in tournament history to lead the all players in scoring with 11 points (3g, 8a) in 7 games.<\/p>\n

Hutson pointed to Capitals rookie Ryan Leonard as someone he particularly benefitted from playing with at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just obviously playing with all those unbelievable players that were there (gave me confidence),\u201d he said. \u201cJust them reading the same plays that I was and just reading off each other really well. I think playing with a guy that is here right now, Ryan Leonard, he changes the tempo of games, and playing with a guy like that can help your team win games just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his season ended with a loss in the NCAA National Championship game, Hutson found himself rooting against the team that had drafted him just months before. His brother Lane, who won the Calder Trophy<\/a> in his rookie season with the Montreal Canadiens, matched up against the Capitals in the NHL playoffs.<\/p>\n

So when the series moved to Montreal for Game 3, Cole made the trip to cheer him on, complete with a Canadiens-themed sweater.<\/a><\/p>\n

His fashion choices earned some lighthearted backlash in DC \u2014 head coach Spencer Carbery joked that the sweater was \u201cterrible\u201d<\/a> \u2014 but Hutson pointed out that the Capitals weren\u2019t the ones who ponied up for the seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of the fans saw me in a Habs sweater. (I) took a lot of crap from the staff and management here, but what I told them is \u2018He bought me the ticket, so I\u2019ve got to cheer for him in his seats,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next time, however, Hutson hopes he won\u2019t need a ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that series comes back around, hopefully I\u2019m playing in it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Hutson doesn\u2019t feel ready to jump to the NHL just yet. He showed plenty of scoring talent last season, but he plans to work on his defensive game next year to balance out his play.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust rounding out my game, being super mature (on) both sides of the puck,\u201d he said of his goals. \u201cI think taking care of the defensive side before I jump for the offensive part of the game \u2014 even though it\u2019s a lot more fun than the defensive side \u2014 that\u2019s where you\u2019re going to need (to improve) to make it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond just his development goals, Hutson is plenty happy to spend another year at school. He told reporters that his plan was always to play at least two seasons at BU, maybe even three or four if he\u2019s enjoying himself. His freshman year experience only reinforced that belief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had such a fun first year, and it\u2019d be stupid not to go back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And if he can continue what he started last year, Hutson\u2019s sure to get an A+ in hockey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, VA \u2014 Defenseman Cole Hutson may be preparing for his sophomore year of college, but his focus…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-33962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114786525945292771","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}