Hutson joins elite group as Calder Trophy winner with Canadiens

Lane Hutson's Calder Trophy win as the NHL's top rookie for 2024-25 ended a half-century-plus "drought" for the Montreal Canadiens.

The 21-year-old defenseman becomes the seventh Canadiens player to win the Calder, following Johnny Quilty (1941), Bernie Geoffrion (1952), Ralph Backstrom (1959), Bobby Rousseau (1962), Jacques Laperriere (1964) and Ken Dryden (1972).

Eight times in the history of the Calder Trophy, first awarded in 1932-33, a Canadiens player has been runner-up: 2012-13: Brendan Gallagher (won by Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers); 2003-04: Michael Ryder (Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins); 1984-85: Chris Chelios (Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins); 1967-68: Jacques Lemaire (Derek Sanderson, Bruins); 1963-64: John Ferguson (Laperriere); 1943-44: Bill Durnan (Gus Bodnar, Toronto Maple Leafs); 1942-43: Glen Harmon (Gaye Stewart, Maple Leafs); 1941-42: Buddy O'Connor (Grant Warwick, New York Rangers).

Lane Hutson poses for a portrait after being selected in the second round (No. 62) by the Canadiens during the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 8, 2022.

Quilty, the Canadiens' first winner, never won the Stanley Cup, but the five Canadiens who followed him won a combined 28 championships -- four by Rousseau, six each by the other four. Geoffrion, Laperriere and Dryden would earn election to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Dryden figures that he got word of his Calder win from the Canadiens, after the team had been informed by the NHL of the voting results.

The goalie's 152 points based on vote totals edged two forwards -- Buffalo Sabres' Richard Martin (132) and the Detroit Red Wings' Marcel Dionne (92).

"The Calder meant a lot to me then, as it does today," said Dryden, who won the 1971 Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason before he was technically Calder-eligible.

Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, winner of the Calder Trophy in 1972.

Until recently, it hadn't occurred to him that he was the most recent Canadiens player to be voted the NHL's top rookie.

"If I'd been asked, I'd have assumed that someone from Montreal had won it (since 1972)," he said. "I wouldn't have had a particular name in mind, but I'd have thought that since 1972 there would have been someone.

"It's what happens when a league goes from six to 32 teams. So much of what you understand about the Canadiens and their record relates to a time when there were only six teams. It wasn't that hard to win all kinds of different trophies then, and it was that much easier to win a Stanley Cup.

"Think as well in terms of the kind of farm system that the Canadiens had at a time when the other five teams didn't have farm systems of any great significance and weren't producing players the way the Canadiens were."

Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden and defenseman Jacques Laperriere, respectively winners of the Calder Trophy in 1972 and 1964, in 1971 Stanley Cup Final action against the Chicago Black Hawks at the Montreal Forum. Chicago forward Stan Mikita gives chase behind the net.

Quilty arrived from Ottawa high-school hockey but Geoffrion, Backstrom, Rousseau, Laperriere and Dryden were all products of the Canadiens' junior or minor-pro assembly line.

The 20-year-old made his coach look like a genius when his Calder victory was announced in late March 1941.

During training camp for the 1940-41 season, Montreal coach Dick Irvin Sr. was asked by a Toronto radio announcer for his Calder choice. Irvin wrote Quilty's name on a slip of paper, sealed it in an envelope and told the broadcaster not to open it before season's end.

In a media poll conducted by the Canadian Press news agency, Quilty emerged ahead of Red Wings goalie Johnny Mowers with Canadiens center Elmer Lach in third place. Though a news story detailed voting, giving Quilty the edge over Mowers with 73 to 67 points so awarded on the basis of writers' first-, second- and third-place choices, the NHL does not officially announce totals until 1947.

Canadiens forward Johnny Quilty, the Calder Trophy winner in 1941, with a newspaper clipping announcing his victory.

It was a remarkable win given that Quilty had jumped to the NHL straight out of Ottawa's St. Patrick's High School, not taking the era's usual senior hockey route.

Geoffrion's 54-point season (30 goals, 24 assists) in 1951-52 saw him outpoll Hy Buller of the New York Rangers 58-42, with fellow Canadiens rookie Dickie Moore in third with 36 voting points. His win ended the two-year run of goalies honored -- Jack Gelineau (Bruins) in 1950 and Terry Sawchuk (Red Wings) in 1951.

The $1,000 League check that came with his Calder was timely indeed; a couple of days later, Geoffrion would marry Marlene Morenz, daughter of Montreal legend Howie Morenz.

Forward Ralph Backstrom would be the third Canadiens Calder recipient, a landslide winner in 1958-59 over Maple Leafs defenseman Carl Brewer, 141-67, with Montreal forward Ab McDonald third with 32.

Canadien forwards Ralph Backstrom (l.) and Bernie Geoffrion, respectively the winners of the Calder Trophy in 1959 and 1952.

A native of Kirkland Lake, Ontario, he made the jump to Montreal from junior, having starred with the Ottawa-Hull Canadiens the previous season.

"It's something a fellow dreams about all his life," said Backstrom, who had 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) on a deep Canadiens team that in 1959 won the Stanley Cup for the fourth of five consecutive times.

"I was satisfied with my season, some of the time. I was over-anxious, I made mistakes, but the coach (Toe Blake) and the rest of the boys were patient with me. For that, I'm grateful."

Forward Bobby Rousseau would be the next Canadiens Calder winner in 1961-62, his 141 voting points outpolling Cliff Pennington (70), Pat Stapleton (41) and Wayne Connelly (24), all of the last-place Bruins.

Canadiens forward Bobby Rousseau, winner of the Calder Trophy in 1962.

Playing for most of the season on a line with center Jean Beliveau and left-wing Gilles Tremblay, Rousseau was recognized for his 45 points in 70 games (21 goals, 24 assists) and strong penalty killing.

"I really started playing well in January," Rousseau said when his Calder win was announced. "And when I saw the other rookies weren't doing too well, I tried harder.

"I can sure use that money," he added of the $1,000 bonus. "My wife is expecting a baby, and I've just bought furniture."

Laperriere won the Calder two years after Rousseau, his 117 points outpolling two Canadiens teammates -- forward John Ferguson (66) and defenseman Terry Harper (48). He was rewarded not for his offensive prowess (two goals, 28 assists) but for his rock-solid work on defense (plus-25).

Canadiens defenseman Jacques Laperriere (r.) accepts the Calder Trophy in 1964 from Maple Leafs legend Syl Apps at the NHL Awards luncheon in Toronto.

"I had to learn to make moves faster, but coach Blake corrected a habit I had of getting rid of the puck too soon," Laperriere said, considering his 1963-64 rookie season that saw him also named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team.

"He schooled me to hold onto it longer behind the line, then make a play. It helped me a lot, and I felt my bodychecking also improved later in the season."

NHL President Clarence Campbell almost never remarked on the merits of a player, but he made an exception during the 1964 semifinal between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

"It's fantastic the way Laperriere has taken over as the Canadiens leader," Campbell told Montreal Star columnist Red Fisher. "I can't ever remember someone that young taking over the way he has."

Now, six decades after Laperriere first patrolled Montreal's blue line, Hutson becomes the second defenseman on the team to win the Calder Trophy.

Top photo: Defenseman Lane Hutson, seen here at Bell Centre in April 2025, is the seventh member of the Montreal Canadiens to be voted winner of the Calder Trophy, which was photographed here at the Hockey Hall of Fame Resource Centre in November 2024.