Jack Hughes questions Hockey Hall of Fame possession of puck from U.S. men's Olympic hockey golden goal
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored the overtime winning goal for the United States in the men's ice hockey gold medal game against Canada at the Milano Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on February 22, 2026. The goal secured the first U.S. gold medal in the event since the 1980 Lake Placid Games.[1][2]
Hughes criticised the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto for possessing the puck from the goal, calling it "bulls---" in an interview with ESPN. "I'm trying to get it. … Why would they have that puck?" he said.
The puck was donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) after the game. Philip Pritchard, vice president of the resource centre and curator for the Hockey Hall of Fame, responded to ESPN: "Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack's puck to own. It's been donated to us now. For every artifact that's been donated, we have a paper trail and signed paperwork of where it's come from."[3]
In international tournaments including the Olympics, on-ice officials typically collect pucks and gear for memorabilia, which are then transferred to the IIHF for donation. The Hockey Hall of Fame stated: "Items are formally transferred to the Hall through IIHF's established artifact donation process and added into our permanent collection."
Hall of Fame staff were present in Milan to assist with the process. The puck from Megan Keller's women's golden goal, scored three days earlier, was also donated to the collection.
Hughes, 24, said he would like the puck for his father, a keen collector of his sons' memorabilia. "I wouldn’t even want it for myself. I’d want it for my dad," he told ESPN. He plans to formally contact the Hall, which has returned items to players in the past.
Hughes, from Orlando, Florida, is a first-round pick (No. 1 overall, 2019 NHL Draft) for the Devils and has emerged as one of the league's top playmakers.[4]
Sources
- Organisation: Olympics.com
Title: Ice hockey men Lake Placid 1980
Publication date: N/A (reference)
URL: https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/lake-placid-1980/results/ice-hockey-men - Organisation: Hockey Hall of Fame
Title: Olympic Hockey
Publication date: N/A (reference)
URL: https://www.hhof.com/page/exhibits_miracle - Organisation: Hockey Hall of Fame
Title: Philip Pritchard - Hockey Hall of Fame
Publication date: N/A (staff bio, accessed October 2024)
URL: https://www.hhof.com/page/Philpritchard - Organisation: NHL.com
Title: Jack Hughes - New Jersey Devils - Player
Publication date: Accessed October 2024
URL: https://www.nhl.com/devils/player/jack-hughes-8480025
