Cole Hutson might not be the next Gordon Ramsay, but his cooking might look like Ramsay’s when compared to Ryan Leonard’s.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, who hosted Leonard at his house last year and is now doing the same for Hutson, recently confirmed to the Washington Capitals’ Katie Florio that Hutson has already one-upped Leonard in the Dubois household’s kitchen. Hutson moved into his new digs last week after leaving Boston University to sign with the Capitals.
“[Hutson] already cooked for us last night, so he’s got that on top of Ryan right now,” Dubois told Florio. “The dogs love him, too. He’s been super nice, polite, respectful. He’s a little shy, but we’re really getting to know him more and more every day. Met his family, they’re super nice too, so it’s been really fun getting to know him, and my wife likes him too, so that makes it a lot easier.”
Florio then asked Dubois specifically how Hutson has progressed past Leonard culinarily in such a short amount of time.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s not too hard,” Dubois said. “Leno didn’t do anything. We said we’re going to start off with cereal, and [Hutson] made pasta for us, so he’s ahead of schedule.”
Leonard’s cooking while living with Dubois amounted to marinating meat and putting together premade meals. While he may not have been much help with food, his stay with Dubois, Dubois’s wife, Maddie, and their three dogs was ultimately a very positive experience for both parties.
Dubois admitted that even now, with a newborn baby taking up much of the couple’s time at home, they missed having Leonard around, so Hutson’s arrival was a natural fit.
“(Maddie) says she misses Ryan, so she gave the green light for Cole,” Dubois said. “It’s such a weird circumstance, (to come in) and there’s 14, 15 games left in the season. It’s a lot of time, but at the same time, it’s not. It’s a lot of time in a hotel; it’s not really enough time to get an apartment or anything. Last year with Ryan was a lot of fun, so doing it again was a no-brainer.”
Hutson has now played three games with the Capitals and already put up two points (1g, 1a). While the team’s coaching staff may be limiting his deployment in some situations, they have increased his usage in each game so far, culminating with 17:55 of ice time against the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
Having a spot outside of a hotel to rest his head could be contributing to Hutson’s fast start in the NHL. Dubois expressed how impressed he has been with his new roommate’s near-instant acclimation.
“It’s never easy for a rookie to come in and play, but it makes it a lot harder when you don’t have training camp, you don’t have a couple practices,” Dubois said. “You get one practice, and you’re playing already. But, you know, for his first game the other day, he played really well. Second game, same thing. The second game is often a lot harder than the first one because the first one is (you’re) just on a cloud, and the adrenaline is there. But I thought last game he played really well, and we’re really excited to see what he can do once he gets more and more practices and more experience under his belt.”
Dubois, who is now an unofficial team father to players, became an actual first-time dad earlier this season when he and his wife welcomed their first child, a son. The 27-year-old centerman got to experience many of his son’s firsts at home, as he suffered a long-term injury in October that caused him to miss 47 games for the Capitals.
“Yeah, it was really cool to see the first time him rolling over, the first time smiling, all that kind of stuff,” Dubois said. “You never want to be injured, but the timing of it, personally, in my life couldn’t have been better. I got to see some special moments with him and help my wife a lot in those first few months, when for a first child, it’s new. Everything is new for the both of us. So that was pretty special.”
Compared to the challenges that come with becoming a first-time father, having Hutson to look after is likely a cakewalk. The only thing Dubois may need to look out for is a rowdy game of Fortnite.
