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Montreal Canadiens player looks like little boy next to Canadian basketball giant

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
May 11 2026, 9:03 pm
Montreal Canadiens player looks like little boy next to Canadian basketball giant
@PeteYannopoulos/X

Being considered small next to other athletes is nothing out of the norm for Montreal Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson.

Already regarded as one of the better defencemen in the entire NHL, Hutson wasn’t selected until 62nd overall in the 2022 draft due to his 5-foot-9, 162-pound frame.

Hutson’s small stature is quite apparent every time he hits the ice, though his skill causes most to quickly forget about it. Over the weekend, however, fans got a good reminder of just how undersized the Habs defenceman is.

Following a Game 3 win over the Buffalo Sabres, Canadian basketball player Olivier Rioux went down into the Bell Centre corridors and got a photo with Hutson.

Rioux, who is the tallest NCAA basketball player in history at 7-foot-9, had Hutson looking like a child standing next to him.

In Hutson’s defence, you won’t find many individuals who don’t look like a child standing next to Rioux.

Not only is the 20-year-old the tallest basketball player in NCAA history, but he was also declared by the Guinness World Records to be the tallest teenager in the world in 2021, measuring at 7-foot-5 at the age of 15.

Rioux, who was born in Terrebonne, Que., was rocking a Canadiens jersey for the entire game. Prior to the game starting, he did an interview with CBC’s Kwabena Oduro, who deemed him “easily the tallest person I’ve ever interviewed.”

“Never felt so short in my life,” Oduro said on X.

Hutson was at his best in front of Rioux and the rest of the Habs faithful on Sunday, registering two assists in what was a 6-2 win over the Sabres. Thanks in part to the strong showing, the 22-year-old blueliner now has two goals and nine points through 10 playoff outings this year.

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