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RALEIGH, NC – Ask Ben Hutton or Tim Schaller what they do for a living and they’d both tell you they’re hockey players.

However, through the first weekend of the new National Hockey League season, all they’ve done is practice. And neither is thrilled by the fact they’ve been healthy scratches in the Vancouver Canucks first two games on the schedule. Following practice Monday at PNC Arena where the Canucks will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, head coach Travis Green confirmed line-up changes are coming. Some of that is due to his desire to get fresh faces into the line-up and part of it is the direct result of a 7-4 loss in Calgary on Saturday which didn’t exactly set the tone Green was looking for in the opener of a marathon six-game road trip.

“It’s hard for guys not to play and they want to play,” Green says of making difficult line-up decisions. “Every case is different when a player is not playing. I believe you have to be honest with the player and also understand that he’s not playing -- whoever it is. That’s human nature and tendencies. But we’ll make changes tomorrow.”

As is his policy, Green would not disclose those changes a day in advance of a game. But every indication at practice was that Schaller will replace Tyler Motte and be inserted on the left side of a line with Jay Beagle and Markus Granlund. Hutton’s status is less clear. He skated Monday with Troy Stecher while Michael Del Zotto, who had been Stecher’s defensive partner in the first two games, was paired with Alex Biega. However, Stecher barely saw the ice in the third period on Saturday (four shifts and 1:51 of ice) raising the possibility that he may come out of the line-up and be replaced by Biega.

If that’s the case, Hutton’s season debut may have to wait.

“It’s obviously frustrating sitting out -- especially the home opener -- after I thought I had a pretty solid preseason,” says Hutton. “We’ve talked a few times now. It’s never easy sitting out. I know from last year I have to work hard in practice and off-ice and be ready to go.”

On the surface, this looks like a continuation of the drama that started just before Christmas last season when Hutton was first banished to the press box. In all, he spent 12 games in street clothes and was sent home for the summer with implicit instructions to return in better shape.

Hutton felt he’d done that, but he has yet to see the fruits of his labour and the waiting game never gets easier.

“No one likes sitting in the stands watching their team play and battle,” he says. “You have to take it with a chip on your shoulder, but at the same time you have to be encouraging. You can’t be a Debbie Downer. You have to encourage the guys because they’re all still my friends and teammates and I want them to do well. When I wasn’t on the home opener roster, he (Green) told me: ‘just be patient.’ He liked my game a lot better than last year from what he saw. He told me to be patient and ready to go when I get called.”

Green hinted that Hutton’s opportunity could come as early as Tuesday against the Hurricanes, but in the same breath cautioned that none of the eight defensemen who returned after a sub-par season collectively should feel he has a nightly line-up spot etched in stone.

“I like that he’s come into camp in better shape than he was last year and I thought Hutty had an alright preseason,” the coach explains. “I don’t think we’ve got a d-corps that has really separated themselves from each other where this is our top four and this is our five-six-seven. I don’t look at our d-corps like that. For us, it’s on a nightly basis. We don’t have easy decisions to make on who plays and who doesn’t.”

Tim Schaller’s situation is a little different than Hutton’s. Schaller was among the team’s three free agent signings on July 1st and was touted as a big-body that would bang and crash and wear down defenses. That, in turn, was supposed to allow the team’s young skilled forwards more time and space to operate.

That was the theory. But whether it was the move to a new organization, new conference or new city, the 27-year-old winger, who had 12 goals in Boston last season, was hard to find in exhibition action and clearly didn’t do enough to earn a spot in the opening night line-up despite his two-year/$3.8 million contract.

“I had a tough time getting the motor going in the preseason games,” Schaller said. “The reason, I don’t know. But hopefully they know what I can do. Last year, I had a pretty good season so hopefully I can continue that this year and get into a game and show them what I can do. I’ve been working hard in practice and I’ll be ready to go.”

Schaller was a big part of the Bruins penalty kill which ranked third in the league season. That’s supposed to be an area of the game he can – and will – contribute. After the Canucks surrendered three Calgary power play goals on Saturday including the third-period game winner an opening has likely been created to get him into the line-up.

“You just have to work hard in practice and keep in shape and maybe do some extra things to show the coaches that you’re hungry,” he says, knowing that he wasn’t likely to get into Saturday’s line-up after the team produced an impressive 5-2 victory at home last Wednesday. “I don’t think you’ve ever seen the coach change a line-up after a win like that. So I definitely understood, but hopefully I can get in soon.”

For Schaller and Hutton, it hasn’t been the start to the season either was looking for. But on a team trying to put the building blocks for success in place, every night will be an audition and a chance to impress the coaching staff. Both players have been sent a message and now it’s up to them to respond whenever their time comes.