As the Canucks cleaned out their lockers and headed home at the end of the season, Ben Hutton faced some tough questions from the media. Called out for his conditioning, Hutton committed to working hard in the off-season.
“I’m going to grind all summer hard to make sure I come back one of the most conditioned guys on the team,” he said.
Hutton has been following through on that promise early in the off-season, but took a break from his workouts for a very special charity event. Saturday, June 16th, was the second annual Ben Hutton Shootout, a golf tournament in support of Alzheimer’s.
The event took place in Hutton’s hometown of Prescott, Ontario and raised $26,000 for Alzheimer Society Leeds Lanark Grenville, which provides “support, education, and advocacy for families of people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.” That’s an increase from the $15,000 they raised last year.
Alzheimer’s disease hits home for Hutton.
“Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s is kind of popular in my family,” said Hutton on a local radio station. “At the start of this season, I lost my grandma and my aunt to Alzheimer’s disease, which is never easy. I just want to raise awareness and raise money going towards this terrible disease.”
Hutton was joined by fellow Canucks Chris Tanev and Jake Virtanen, as well as a few other current and former hockey player, like Dallas Stars forward Devin Shore, who was a teammate of Hutton’s at the University of Maine. Huttons’ Instagram post shows that Tanev and Virtanen evidently didn’t get the memo to wear blue.
Not going to lie: Virtanen’s all-red outfit looks pretty sharp.
Also, shout out to Tyler Motte for the Happy Gilmore quote in the comments of Hutton’s Instagram post in reference to the oversized donation cheque: “Give me one of them big ones, I don’t care.”
A keen eye might notice that Tanev isn’t wearing a Canucks hat. I could be mistaken, but the logo and the colours make it look an awful lot like a Winnipeg Jets hat. That wouldn’t be too surprising, as Tanev spent the playoffs cheering on his younger brother, Brandon Tanev, who plays for the Jets.
In the midst of all the fretting about the NHL draft and free agency, it’s good to remember how some of these players are able to leverage their celebrity for a good cause. As much as Hutton might have struggled on the ice last year, he’s still Prescott’s favourite son, who was introduced as a “local hero” at the event.
