While he won’t be on the ice due to injury, if the Vancouver Canucks win Game 7 on Wednesday night, Dan Hamhuis will become just the second Nashville Predator draft pick to win the Stanley Cup.
Hutchinson, a second round pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, hoisted Lord Stanley in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes despite not playing in a single playoff game that year. Actually, he only played in 36 games during the regular season and the NHL rules state that a player must have played at least 41 games for the Cup winning team to have his name engraved on the chalice. However, a team may petition the league to include a name they feel was significant in their championship run and that’s just what the Hurricanes did with Hutchinson.
While Mark Eaton graduated from Music City to the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins, he was not drafted by Nashville (he actually wasn’t drafted by anyone) so even he’s excluded from the list.
Which, speaking of that, if the Boston Bruins win their first Cup since 1972, Rich Peverley will join Eaton as undrafted former Preds to win a championship.
All that being said, if Hutchinson didn’t play in a single playoff game, why is there a picture of him (in full pads, no less) hoisting the Cup? Who knows. He didn’t play in a single playoff game, let alone the deciding game of the Finals. Either way, at least until Wednesday night, Hutchinson is the answer to a very random trivia question: Who is the only Nashville Predator draft pick to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup?
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SPECIAL THANKS to both Carolina Hurricane bloggers Bob Wage and Brian LeBlanc for confirming that Hutchinson did not, in fact, play in the Stanley Cup deciding game despite there being a picture of him in full pads (complete with taped up shin pads).
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HEADLINE PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Bradley (used with permission)
INSET PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Toshner (used with permission)