Knights in the Morning: Ben Hutton recalls viral 'Barbie Girl' rookie performance

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Before establishing himself as a steady presence on the Vegas Golden Knights’ blue line, Ben Hutton once had to prove himself in a very different arena: a rookie lip-sync battle.

WATCH | He sat down with Taylor Rocha to reflect on the experience:

The moment came early in Hutton’s NHL career while he was with the Canucks.

“Yeah, that was a rookie kind of initiation thing that I had to do in Vancouver,” Hutton said. “We all had to do like a lip-syncing battle.”

Hutton said his song choice — Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” — was a spontaneous decision made moments before taking the stage.

“To be honest, I swear I never even had the song picked out heading into it,” Hutton said. “I might have had like a beer or two in the back and just said, ‘Alright, give me Barbie Girl and I’m gonna be able to nail it.’”

The performance was memorable enough that the video has continued to circulate online over the years.

“Then we went up on stage and did our battle and — yeah, I mean I’m sure you’ve seen the video,” Hutton said. “The rest is history.”

And according to Hutton, the performance didn’t just earn laughs — it also earned a win.

“I did win,” he said.

If another lip-sync showdown were to happen today, Hutton already has a teammate in mind to join him.

“Put me on the spot,” Hutton said. “I’d probably go with Aiden Hill.”

As for the song choice this time around, Hutton said they would likely lean into another classic pop group.

“We’d have to spice it up with like, I don’t know, Backstreet Boys or something like that,” he said.