Whose puck is it? Jack Hughes’s overtime goal to win Olympic gold is hockey history, maybe the single most important physical object in American hockey history. You could make the case for some Miracle equipment which surely smells awful by now, but that wasn’t even the gold-medal game. The Hughes puck is a pure distillation, the sudden-death difference between defeat and world-champ status in one small, black disc of vulcanized rubber and entrance-fee bait. Any player would want it. Any collector would want it. Any hall of fame would want it. I wouldn’t say no, if they’d like to give it to me. But who should have it? (I vote me.)
Well, start with who does have it. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, they say, so barring a daring Hughes Brothers midnight raid on the Hockey Hall of Fame, it’s in Toronto and staying in Toronto. Jack, when asked about this on Wednesday, stirred the perfect silly 12-hour news cycle for a bored NHL limping to the end of its regular season.
“I’m trying to get it,” Hughes told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “Like, that’s bullshit that the Hockey Hall of Fame has it, in my opinion. Why would they have that puck?”
On behalf of everyone who’s ever bemoaned hockey players’ inability or unwillingness to say anything interesting, I’d like to thank Jack; this is great stuff. On the other hand, it’s impressive that he’s somehow internalized zero media training since stepping in it on a national scale less than a month ago. Hockey brain contains multitudes, but it’s a multitude of black-and-white cartoon cows blowing “Turkey in the Straw” on a jug.
After saying “I’m trying to get it,” Jack admitted he hasn’t actually reached out to the HHOF about the puck, but “at some point I’ll get on it,” which would seem to postpone any controversy here. But don’t worry, the Hockey Hall of Fame is making perfectly clear that its plans for the puck don’t involve the person who scored it.
“Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack’s puck to own,” Philip Pritchard, curator at the Hockey Hall of Fame, told ESPN.
Here we get a little into the weeds on the structure of the Hockey Hall of Fame, which despite the NHL making up the majority of its focus is not owned or operated by the league. It’s an independent nonprofit museum. But it does host the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, technically a separate hall of fame within its walls. (I think my single favorite exhibit in the entire museum is the room filled with various national team jerseys from over the years.)
The NHL lets players keep milestone pucks et cetera if they ask. It’s just good workplace etiquette, like letting Dave McKenna take the last slice of angel food cake at a function. But the Olympics are an IIHF event, not an NHL one.
When a milestone goal is scored — like Hughes’ “golden goal” — an on-ice official will collect it before an off-ice official, such as the official scorekeeper or timekeeper, wraps tape around the puck to identify it. The puck is given to the IIHF, which then formally and officially donates it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Items are formally transferred to the Hall through IIHF’s established artifact donation process and added into our permanent collection. These artifacts are preserved, exhibited and shared with fans worldwide through our museum and international outreach programs, ensuring that defining Olympic and World Championship moments are preserved, and remain accessible to the global hockey community,” the Hall of Fame said in a statement.
There’s a strong argument there, that hockey heritage belongs to the fans, and there’s value in putting all this stuff in one place so people can see it. But that argument does feel a little like a no-stakes British Museum situation. I guess Jack Hughes is the Parthenon in this metaphor, which would make Quinn the Erechtheion? I’ll work on it.
Jack’s got a sympathetic case, promising that he doesn’t want the puck for himself, but for his father, who collects memorabilia from all his many sons. But Jack’s got a wide range of Olympic-used gear he indisputably owns that could satisfy his father. Surely the stick that scored the golden goal is a pretty nice consolation?
In an attempt to clear up this downright Solomonian conundrum, The Athletic sought the wisdom of Sidney Crosby, scorer of the previous most important golden goal in hockey history. Asked whether he would prefer to own his puck, Crosby said, “I didn’t even think about it that way, to be honest with you. I was just happy that I scored the goal. I was happy that the puck was going to the Hall of Fame.” But perhaps the player most free from the shackles of worldly concerns is not a great comparison for the player who missed two months because he leaned on a wine glass at dinner.
The Devils, well out of the playoff race, had a game Wednesday night. They won, but more importantly, it meant Jack Hughes would face the media in the midst of the puck-possession controversy. Jack, what do you have to say after a few hours to think about it?
“Obviously honored that the puck’s there,” Hughes said. “It’s like the most special place in hockey. So yeah, I’m honored that it’s there. Obviously, I think things were taken crazy. That’s just the way I felt.”
Great, glad we could clear that up. Zach Werenski did the hard work on the goal anyway. Jack’s comms person deserves hazard pay.
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