Logan Hutsko, was born in Tampa, Florida, a state with little hockey development and a family with no background in hockey. Logan and his family moved to Pittsburgh at a young age and that’s when his love for hockey began. Logan has played for the Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep School in Minnesota, was a part of the United States Development Program (USDP), and played all four years of his collegiate career with Boston College. Logan was then drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2018. Now playing on his first professional contract for the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League (AHL).
The Beginning
When I was 3 years old my dad took me to my first hockey game. It was a Pittsburgh Penguins game. In between the second and third period when the tyke players came on the ice, I remember telling my dad that I wanted to do that. Then a guy sitting behind us tapped my dad on the shoulder and said that I need to go to a learn to skate program and handed him a card. When I first went to learn to skate I hated it, but near the end of the practice they brought out hockey sticks which I loved. Learn to skate didn’t last very long because all I wanted to do was play hockey. Once I stopped going to learn to skate I started to do private skating lessons because the coach allowed me to bring a hockey stick out on the ice with me which I wasn’t allowed to do during learning to skate.
I started playing youth hockey not long after going to watch my first penguins game. I played for the Amateur Penguins, Pittsburgh’s little league and my love for the game took off from there.
Growing up I was hooked. It was all I wanted to do, I remember when I was playing during the summer my parents got me rollerblades and I would just be playing roller hockey in the driveway all day.
I started to play competitive hockey when I was 8 years old with the 9 year old triple A Pittsburgh Hornets, which is no longer an organization. I then started to play hockey with Shattuck St. Mary’s 14U triple A team which is a boarding school. While playing hockey in high school I learned a lot of time management skills that have become very valuable because of playing at an competitive level with lots of bus trips and travel. You’ve also got a full day of school, have practice, and then have to do school work as well. Once I got to college it was a lot easier because you get to pick your class schedule around practice time, and the school also provided tutors.
Chasing Dreams
While you’re playing triple A all you want to do is play college. While being a part of the national team, there is a lot more pressure put on yourself. You start to think about playing collegiate and professional hockey. Collegiate was already a given for me at this point.
“Everybody wants to race about who’s going to get to the NHL first, who will sign their contract first, who’s gonna get drafted higher and it turns into a really tough situation for 16 year old’s to be in and it’s not easy”
That was definitely a huge change from playing in high school to then playing for the development team, where hockey became so fun. Now, it starts to make the evolution into something you’re trying to do for a career, not just for fun. For me, I took the experience as how can I get into a really good college with hockey. I was fortunate to get into Boston College and their Business Program, which I may not have gotten into on my own.
I knew Boston College was very prestigiously regraded in the hockey world. When you think of top hockey programs, it’s Boston College, Boston University, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota. Those are the big 5 that everybody thinks about.
For me Boston College have always produced small skilled forwards, for the NHL level and I was like wow that became my number 1 choice, and I was lucky enough to get to go to my number 1 choice.
The Start of a New Chapter
I knew going into college that I wanted to play at the pro level, but before I did I wanted to make sure that I had got my degree in Management Leadership. Hockey won’t always be there and I needed to have something to fall back on once I was done with my career.
While at Boston College it was a great experience and opportunity to excel. Every year we had a really close team and I don’t think I had a bad teammate. Boston College recruits high level hockey players, as well as high quality people, and you know when you are so close with all your teammates and you really truly care about them, it makes it easier to win and succeed. All my personal success stems from being at a great program and playing with great hockey players. I’m also the type of player that’s done better when I’m not worried about the results and I’m just worried about playing and that’s when I’m at my best.
College was a lot of fun but I had to learn how to balance three buckets: school, hockey, and the social scene which I never really had in my life prior. After four years, you have a good understanding on how to balance all three and have the ability to exceed in whatever you choose.
Being Drafted
My plan going into school wasn’t the hope of being drafted right away. My plan was how can I help the team in any possible way that I could. I wasn’t even sure If I was going to get a lot of ice time. During the season I was actually a big part of the team which I wasn’t expecting as a freshman.
“I ended up having a great year and all of sudden I was being drafted to the NHL, it was kinda a whirlwind because it wasn’t something I was striving for at the time.”
When I was being drafted, it didn’t matter to me what team chose me. I was going to be happy regardless. I always wanted to be drafted in the NHL. It was always a dream, and being drafted by Florida was the cherry on top because all of my family is from Florida and during college they had all moved back home.
Understanding Myself
Now that I’m a professional, life is pretty wild because I don’t have to worry about anything other than hockey. Before I became a professional, most of my spare time went to school but now most days we have practice in the mornings and then once I come home I have the rest of the day to myself. I’ve now found things to replace time so that I’m not just burning time until I have to go to the rink the next day.
When I first became pro I had an Xbox and so I would just play Xbox after practice because I had nothing else to do. The more I have matured through my career in the last year and a half I’ve started to take golf lessons, learn how to play the guitar and cook. I cook a lot to try and become better and try new recipes.
“You have all that time on your hands, there’s no reason why you can’t start cooking dinner at 4pm. It takes an hour and half to cook a nice meal, you’re not rushed.”
Now I want to find hobbies outside the rink that benefit my life and not just kill time. With all the extra time on my hands I want to be able to grow a skill set for when the time comes when I’m done playing and you have to make the jump to something else. Which is one of the reasons I read a lot, reading different books to help improve my life.
“Currently reading a self improvement book, finance book, and a Phil Mickelson biography.”
Becoming Pro
Since becoming a professional I’ve realized it is definitely a business. At the beginning I was too worried about the results and I put a lot of pressure on myself. It was very difficult handling all the pressure at the beginning. With the start of anything new there is a lot of learning.
“I think the more that I learn and the more that I grow as a player and a person, to me it’s just about enjoying each and every day and finding a sense of gratitude every morning. You know this is life right now and this is what I get to do for a living because someday it’s going to end and a lot of people would love to be in the shoes that I’m in. That’s how I approach my pro career.”
Also being able to detach myself from the results and going out there and enjoying myself, working hard on my craft, has allowed me to play free in a sense and has let the rest take care of itself.
Written by: Victor Stubbs
SPAD Players Tribune 