James Nichols
After hearing Jack Hughes‘ words of affirmation on Wednesday night, fans of the New Jersey Devils certainly have a lot more comfort in the franchise forwards future with the organization.
Hughes went into Milan, Italy with Team USA with one goal. To win a gold medal. He didn’t know his goal would be the one to seal the deal. However, Team USA felt the gold was theirs for the taking.
“Obviously we had a ton of belief in that locker room,” Hughes said. There were so many like alphas in one room, you know? It’s the same way with Canada, but just so many big dogs in the room, so many guys that believe in themselves, and believe in the group. I think for our team, it didn’t matter who got it, we were just so happy that we got it done. And there’s so much belief in that room that we were going to pull through, and we did.”
Hughes scored the golden goal in overtime to disappoint Canada and claim gold for the United States for the first time since 1980.
From there, the party was on. Team USA hit up Miami, Florida to celebrate, and then made their way down to the White House accepting an invitation from the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
“It’s been, obviously, some of the best three days of my life,” Hughes said. “I had so much fun with that group of guys, and I’m sure everyone on the team is probably wishing it was still going, but it’s nice to get back in their routine and get back to work here.”
After the White House cameo, Hughes made his way back to New Jersey for the Devils’ tilt against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday as the NHL schedule resumed.
He didn’t have his legs right away, but as the game progressed, he looked better and better.
“He had a lot of short shifts early and he’s not a short shift guy,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “If he’s giving you short shifts, you know he’s not quite feeling it early. But I thought as the game went on he was stretching his shifts. He’s wanting to be out there and you almost have to pull him off [the ice] becuase he wants to make the difference.
“All things considered, I thought he gave us a lot.”
The Devils’ usual struggles continued on Wednesday. The scoring woes, despite the shot total, continued—and they lost their first game back to the Sabres 2-1. At this point, New Jersey’s season is all but toast.
Couple that with the idea that the Devils earlier this year failed to reel in the very available Quinn Hughes—Jack’s older brother and Team USA teammate—and many began to worry the Devils might lose their franchise face at some point.
That was until Jack’s pre and postgame speechs. In both before and after the game, Hughes expressed his love for New Jersey amid fileding questions about his big moment in Milan that will forever be etched into USA hockey history.
“I really do love living in New Jersey and playing in New Jersey. For some reason, when I got drafted, obviously I’m their first overall pick, and I’m an American kid, but I just feel like they accepted me so deeply. I feel like, like I’m their guy, you know? I’m their guy. I come to these games, and every time I drive in, all I think about is when I see people walking [around the Prudential Center] at 4:30 with Hughes jerseys on. I’m unrolling my window and screaming at them. They love that, you know?
“But just to represent New Jersey, to represent our fans, like I’m so proud to be a Devil. I’m so proud to play it for the Blitzer family, the Harris family, the Fitzgeralds. These people, it means so much to me, so to represent them through all of this… just… New Jersey means so much to me.”
See, here’s the thing. Jack could have fielded questions about the Olympics and made it all about himself and how big the moment was for him. Instead, he threw it all back on Team USA, the United States hockey development program, and the Devils helped get him to this point.
He didn’t have to profess his love for New Jersey. He didn’t have to talk about ownership, or the highly scrutinized Devils GM.
Yet, despite the public admition earlier this year that Jack wants to play with Quinn in addition to younger brother Luke Hughes, Jack made sure that the Devils and their faithful knew he held them close to him.
He didn’t have to do that.
So, Jack went to the 2026 Winter Olympics and came back an accomplished man. It’s a moment he and Team USA will never forget. However, Jack made it clear, he has those same ambitions for himself in New Jersey. Except, he’s not chasing gold in New Jersey. He’s chasing silver in the form of the Stanley Cup.
Perhaps… that Quinn to New Jersey speculation isn’t dead, after all.
