Making the jump from U.S. college hockey to the pro level can be a big one — for several reasons.
The players are older, bigger, better and stronger in the NHL, the game is faster and the schedule is much longer.
During his four seasons at Northeastern University, Canadiens defenceman Jayden Struble never played more than 34 regular-season games. Last season, his first as a pro, Struble played 69 regular-season games — 13 with the AHL’s Laval Rocket and 56 with the Canadiens.
Another adjustment for Struble was getting used to the amount of free time pro hockey players have compared with university, where players also have classes to attend, homework, etc.
“At first, I think I was like: Oh, nice. I got nothing to do,” Struble said about the free time after a recent practice. “And then it was like: All right, all the days kind of start blending together. You’re like: I got to do something.”
Struble has always been into music so last summer he decided to learn to play guitar.
“I used to play drums and tried to learn piano when I was younger,” he said. “I always liked just hearing music, listening. And then I was just kind of sitting around one day (last summer) and my buddy was like: ‘I’m going to go get a guitar’ and I was like: ‘Oh, yeah. I’ve wanted to for a while.’ I actually just stuck with it this time. It’s kind of like one of those addictions. When I get home today I’m going to go play. I’m getting pretty good.”
Struble has learned to play Tennessee Whiskey — which was a big hit for country-music superstar Chris Stapleton — and Dust in the Wind, made famous in the 1970s by the band Kansas.
Struble said he enjoys all kinds of music, but added that country is “legit” when playing acoustic guitar. He doesn’t really have a favourite band or artist.
“I’m so bad with favourites with food, music anything,” he said. “I like so many genres. The Backseat Lovers … there’s a couple of Indie-ish bands. I like Chris Stapleton and Morgan (Wallen) and all those (country) guys. But I’m so bad with favourites. I could name you a list of just everything, but I don’t have a specific genre.”
This has been a tough season for the 23-year-old Struble, who has been in and out of the lineup with Montreal and was also sent down to the Rocket for two games after being made a healthy scratch for seven straight games with the Canadiens. He was called back up from Laval last week after Kaiden Guhle suffered a lacerated quadriceps muscle.
Struble said playing guitar has also helped him mentally.
“Strumming a little bit … that helps,” he said about passing time on days when there isn’t a game. “That takes up a couple of hours. Maybe going on a walk, going shopping. You end up filling the time … going out to dinner with the guys. Now I think I got a pretty good routine going.”
Teammate and fellow defenceman Lane Hutson has had to make the adjustment from U.S. college hockey to the NHL this season. Hutson never played more than 39 regular-season games during his two years at Boston University and Tuesday’s game against the Sharks in San Jose (10:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS) will be his 53rd this season with the Canadiens. Heading into the game Hutson was leading all NHL rookies in scoring with 3-36-39 totals — two points ahead of Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini, who had played 10 fewer games.
When Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, was recently on The Sick Podcast — The Eye Test with Pierre McGuire and Jimmy Murphy he credited head coach Martin St. Louis and assistant coach Stéphane Robidas for giving Hutson the freedom to play an offensive game as a rookie defenceman.
“I think it’s a perfect marriage for a guy like that to come in and play for Marty, where he wants him to go out and learn on the job,” Gorton said. “A player like that he’s not putting the shackles on him in any way. I think the only thing that was stressed from those guys to him was the timing of it sometimes. Lane sees things differently than the world sees it. So there’s always an eye for offence in those guys’ minds, which is what makes them great, and sometimes these owners put $5-million scoreboards in the rink for the reason — there’s a score, there’s a time, and we all know the time and place. So just understanding that.
“We all love the fact that he sees four guys, five guys in front of him, he still sees an opportunity for us to create something,” Gorton added. “So no one’s taking away from that. I don’t ever really remember a time where he’s missed a shift — that’s how good he’s been.”
Hutson is loving every day in the NHL in large part because there’s “more hockey” — a line he has repeated several times.
“It’s nice having no homework,” he said. “Just kind of focusing on hockey is really nice.”