Is Lane Hutson Tired?

Montreal Canadiens' young defenseman came out of the NCAA and he's never played that many games in a season, is he tired or has he hit the proverbial wall?

The Montreal Canadiens have been hit hard by injuries lately, which has shown in their results. Even rookie Lane Hutson seems to have slowed down a bit; could it be because he's not used to playing so many games in a season?

Hutson was asked in the post practice media availability what the biggest challenge was with an NHL schedule and he replied:

I think just being ready to play every night, it gets a little repetitive sometimes and I'm sure like you want to try new things and do whatever but you've got to do what the game is giving you. I think you just got to be ready every night, that's the biggest thing. 

Since he made no mention of being tired at all, a journalist asked if he had felt any fatigue in the last few weeks, to which he shrugged and said:

Nah, I feel good. I think there's some games I'd like to have back for sure I mean like anyone, you're going to have struggles, I feel like I'm finding my way out of it and I'm excited for the next challenges.

Coach Martin St-Louis also went the NCAA way all those years back and the media also asked him what he felt was the biggest adaptation he had to make all those years ago going from a short calendar to a busier schedule when he turned pro and he explained:

I don't remember. I know I wanted to play a lot. In college you play about 35-40 games, but you practiced Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...Sometimes, practices are tougher than games. I know you like to make a big deal out of this, but when you talk about "miles on the engine" I don't think there's much of a difference. 

Looks like neither Hutson or St-Louis believes the young defenseman is or has reason to be tired. Yesterday's practice was an optional one and the blueliner didn't elect to skip it, the coach said that if he ever felt like a player wasn't taking the option to rest when he should, he would speak to them about it. Mind you, Hutson is not the only rookie who has slowed down of late, Matvei Michkov has a single point in his last five games. 

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