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The Hughes brothers wanted to make a point.
Speaking with reporters after Sunday's gold medal game triumph for Team USA over Canada, they were alongside Auston Matthews, who will soon return to Toronto to resume play for the Maple Leafs.
Matthews was asked how winning will help him, but he just demurred, saying (via TSN's Mark Masters), "I'm trying to live in the moment."
Jack Hughes added his thoughts first: "Doesn't matter what anyone says now. Auston Matthews is a winner."
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Then it was older brother Quinn Hughes: "That's what the media in Toronto should be talking about. Auston led us to a championship."
Matthews hasn't won the big trophy in his time with the Maple Leafs, despite being a high-scoring center who earned the captain honor.
It's not something he necessarily wants to be pressed into talking about, either. He ended the exchange Sunday with this: "I don't have anything else to say."
Fair enough.
In this case, the gold medal can speak for itself.
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Matthews struggled a bit to open the Olympics, but in the knockout rounds, he was sharp.
Against Canada on Sunday, Matthews showed off an impressive work rate defensively, consistently getting back to disrupt the Canadian transition.
Who knows how Toronto will welcome Matthews back after he defeated Canada at the Olympics. In reality, Matthews won't have to worry about that.
As the captain of Team USA, he led the Americans to gold. That speaks volumes.
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