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Jack Hughes is going to have to get creative if he wants his “golden goal” puck back. Simply asking for it isn’t going to work.
The Hockey Hall of Fame, the Toronto museum which is in possession of the puck Hughes scored in overtime against Canada to win Team USA its first men’s hockey Olympic gold medal in 46 years, said they are not giving Hughes the puck.
“Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack’s puck to own,” Phil Pritchard, the “Keeper of the Cup” who is vice president of the resource center and curator for the HHOF, told ESPN on Wednesday.
“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.”
The Hall of Fame now has the puck from Hughes’ goal and the one from American women’s star Megan Keller’s gold-medal winner on display. They were donated to the Hall by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which worked with the International Olympic Committee to put on the Olympic hockey tournaments.
“Part of being a nonprofit registered charity in Canada is it becomes kind of a legal document that we’ve received it as a donation,” Pritchard told ESPN. “We’ve insured it, we’ve preserved it, we conserved everything. It becomes part of our institution.”
Hughes fumed to ESPN on Tuesday about not having the game-winning puck.
“I’m trying to get it. Like, that’s bulls–t that the Hockey Hall of Fame has it, in my opinion,” Hughes said. “Why would they have that puck?”
Hughes, whose older brother Quinn was on Team USA with him and whose younger brother Luke is his Devils teammate, said he wanted the puck to give to his dad, Jim.
“When I look back in time in my career, I don’t collect too many things for myself, but my dad’s a monster collector for the three of us. I know he would have a special place for it,” Hughes told ESPN.
English (US)