ST. LOUIS – Carter Hutton just wanted to do something special for the Winter Classic, especially considering it’s his first season with the St. Louis Blues.
So the former Blackhawks goaltender had his custom Winter Classic mask adorned with St. Louis Cardinals legends. Hutton’s mask got plenty of great reaction. Hutton himself got an unexpected gift, a Stan Musial-autographed baseball from the late Hall of Famer’s family on Sunday.
“The family gave me a little gift bag and a card just thanking me for honoring their dad and just saying, if he was still around, he’d be at the game. It’s an amazing feeling, them reaching out like that,” Hutton said. “It’s a pretty cool keepsake for myself, a cool baseball to have from an absolute legend. They were just thanking me for remembering them.”
[SHOP: Gear up Blackhawks fans!]
Hutton was in the Blackhawks’ organization for two seasons, mostly with the Rockford IceHogs. Hutton catches up with some of the Blackhawks during the various games, although, as he said, “a lot of the guys I was with in Chicago have spread out through the league due to the cap.” He was never teammates with current Blackhawks backup Scott Darling, he and Darling trained together in Nashville a few summers ago.
“I got to know Scott really well and kept a close eye on his development. What a great story he’s been,” Hutton said. “He’s amazing and he keeps getting better and better, it seems.”