Freshmen Lane (CAS’26) (left) and Quinn Hutson (CAS’26) are tied in scoring the second most goals for the Terriers this season, with nine each. Growing up playing against each other, the brothers are enjoying their time skating together for the No. 4/5 Terriers. Photo by Matt Woolverton

Men’s Hockey

BU’s Red-Hot Hutson Brothers Help Fuel Terriers’ Hockey Success

For freshmen Lane and Quinn, goal scoring is a family affair

There’s something special happening at Agganis Arena this year. The Boston University men’s hockey team is 17-6-0 and is nationally ranked a top-five team in various polls. In addition to pacing Hockey East in win percentage, the Terriers are averaging the second-most goals per game (4.17) in all of college hockey.

And among the scoring barrage are a pair of freshman brothers, Lane (CAS’26) and Quinn Hutson (CAS’26). Their lifetime relationship on the ice has contributed to the Terriers’ best ranking since the second week of the 2017-18 season. 

The Hutson brothers (who are not twins and are actually just over two years apart) have had immediate success through 22 games while skating in scarlet. Lane, a defenseman, has 27 points (9 goals, 18 assists), good for second among the Terriers, and 15th nationally. Quinn is a forward with 18 points in 22 games (9 goals, 11 assists).

The Hutsons grew up the two oldest of four brothers in a hockey family from North Barrington, Ill. Their father, Rob Hutson, played college hockey at the University of Illinois Chicago and in the UHL, a minor professional league. The youngest Hutsons, Cole and Lars, are 16 and 14. 

Taking different paths to Commonwealth Avenue, Lane, 18, and Quinn, 21, did not originally plan to attend BU together. 

They both ended up as members of the Class of 2026 because of the quirks of competitive college hockey. When playing collegiate hockey, once an athlete commits to a school, the school and the athlete decide what year is best for that person to come and play, based on their skill level and the status of the team’s roster. 

After Quinn chose BU, he played two extra years of junior hockey before joining the BU Class of 2026. He spent his first 16U year playing with fellow Terriers Jeremy Wilmer (CAS’26) and Devin Kaplan (CAS’26) on the North Jersey Avalanche. Kaplan and Lane would play together on the same team the following season, while Quinn moved to the Avalanche 18U team.

“We’ve all been playing with each other for about five years now,” Kaplan says. “Me and Lane are kind of best friends, so we know each other to a T.”

In 2020, Lane, alongside Wilmer and Kaplan, joined Terriers defenseman Ty Gallagher (SHA’25), in playing for the US National Team Development Program (USNTDP). The Hutsons were hardly apart, however, as their USHL teams played against each other often in the two years Lane played for the USNTDP and Quinn for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. 

Strictly opponents on the ice at this point, summers the Hutsons returned home to play two on two with Cole and Lars. “Over the summer, it’s just me, Quinn, and my two younger brothers,” Lane says. “We were always skating for hours every single day. It was super competitive and usually ended in some fights—it was really fun.”

Quinn says Lane played harder than normal during their summer skates. “Because I’m older,” he says, “he battles harder against me than he does against kids his own age or anybody else, so I think that helped him.” 

After his time with the US Juniors, and despite being two years younger than Quinn, it would be Lane who committed to Boston University first, in 2019. “I just wanted to go to a place where they really prioritize hockey,” he says. “Here at BU, they have a long history of developing NHL players, and that’s been a goal of mine for the longest time. There would be no better spot to develop my game.” 

Lane was selected in the second round (62nd overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. In the program’s 101 years, 91 Terriers have played in the NHL. 

While Lane committed to BU first in 2019, his brother was soon to follow. Quinn says Lane wanted to be a Terrier “the whole time—I don’t even think he thought about going anywhere else,” he says. A couple months after his brother’s commitment, Quinn says, former BU head coach Albie O’Connell (CAS’99) began recruiting him.

“Amazing players, amazing teammates” 

After years of playing against each other, the Hutsons are well accustomed to sharing the ice. Both know the other’s game almost as well as they know their own. 

“I feel like whenever we’re on the ice, we’re always trying to find each other,” Lane says. “It has worked out a few times this year, so it’s been really fun connecting with one another. I feel like I’m constantly looking for who’s on the ice with me, and when he’s out there, I definitely look for him.” 

In the games they’ve played together at BU, the two have shared the scoresheet on six goals, with Lane assisting on four of Quinn’s nine goals this season. Most recently, Lane serviced a breakaway pass to assist Quinn in BU’s January 21 9-6 victory over Maine. 

“When they’re out there together, they definitely have some chemistry,” Terriers head coach Jay Pandolfo (CAS’96) says. “They’re smart hockey players, especially with the puck on their sticks. Both of them have been great this year, especially as freshmen—they’ve been a big part of our game.”

That opinion of the Hutsons extends beyond Pandolfo. Roommate Ryan Greene (CAS’26) agrees about the merits of having the brothers on the team. “Amazing players, amazing teammates—I room with them so I’ve gotten to know them pretty well,” Greene says. “They just bring a lot of competition every day in practice and in every game. They push all of us to get better every day, and they’re having great freshman campaigns so far.” 

The Hutsons and Greene live together with Wilmer, Kaplan, and Lachlan Getz (CAS’26). To this point, these six freshmen have contributed 99 of BU’s 274 points, nearly 40 percent of the team’s 96 goals. 

While they’re playing for one of the foremost hockey programs in the country, the six seem to lead two lives. Inside their dorm rooms, they spend ample time “laying low,” Lane says, playing Fortnite and NHL 2K, as well as attending classes. 

“Getting up, going to class, and just getting that stuff done,” he says, “and then doing what I love here every day with my teammates, and my brother. So it’s been pretty fun. You know, it’s kind of two separate lives, but you get to live them both.”

Lane has played every game of the Terriers season, save for BU’s 2-1 overtime victory against Harvard on December 30. Instead, he was a part of the US Junior National Team’s bronze medal finish in the World Junior Championship.

In his stead, Quinn scored one of BU’s two goals in the Harvard game. 

Lane says he relies heavily on his older brother as they experience the excitement and thrills, and the challenges, of competitive college hockey.

“I definitely lean on him quite a bit,” he says. “Being able to be here with him during the season that he’s having, and being able to be on a winning team with him—it’s exciting and we’re looking to just keep doing more.” 

The next BU men’s ice hockey game is Friday, January 27, at 7 pm, when the team hosts rival Boston College at Agganis Arena in the 289th edition of the Battle of Comm Ave. In their last meeting, on December 9, at Conte Forum, the Eagles bested the Terriers 9-6. Admission is free to students with a BU Sports Pass; the game will be streamed live on NESN and ESPN+.