Jack Hughes afte scoring the winning for the U.S. in Olympic men’s hockey. (olympics.com image)

When he scored the overtime goal that ended Canada’s Olympic hockey gold medal dream on Sunday, surely he must have thought of all the heartbreak in his old hometown of Mississauga.

But maybe not.

Who can blame Jack Hughes for turning his attention to the land of his birth and celebrating by draping himself in the stars and stripes and skating around the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena when his side captured gold with a 2-1 victory? Afterall, it has been 46 years since the U.S. men’s hockey team came out on top at the Olympics.

Still, the 24-year-old centre for the New Jersey Devils has acknowledged that playing for the Mississauga Rebels of the Greater Toronto Hockey League and winning the Ontario Hockey Federation peewee AAA championship sharpened his skills.

Born in Florida, his family moved to Canada when Jack was young after his father took a job as director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A student for a time at Iona Catholic Secondary School in Clarkson, Hughes and his two hockey-playing brothers skated regularly on rinks flooded by community volunteers in his Mississauga neighbourhood.

Through his time with the Rebels and the AAA Toronto Marlboros, he became a local star and was drafted by the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. Instead, he headed to Michigan with the U.S. National Team Development Program where he honed the skills that turned him into the top draft pick. Brothers Quinn (Minnesota Wild) and Luke (Devils) also play in the NHL and were also top draft picks.

In his seven years in the NHL, he has scored 153 goals and 387 points in 404 games.

He was named to America’s Olympic squad in early January and told nhl.com at that time that playing for his country was “a dream come true.”

That dream was fully realized at 1:41 into overtime when he netted the winning goal after being left alone in the slot during three-on-three play, despite the pain of getting two teeth knocked out by a high stick earlier in the game.

“They got great dentists back home (in Jersey),’ he told reporters after the game. “They are going to fix me right up.”

 

 


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