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Jack Hughes was already one of the faces of the National Hockey League, but in recent weeks, he’s been one of the faces of the United States.
The New Jersey Devils star, minutes after losing teeth to a high stick, scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to give the United States its first gold medal in men’s hockey since the “Miracle on Ice” team in 1980.
The photo of Hughes, bloodied without some teeth with an American flag draped over his shoulders, has quickly become historic.
Hughes was one of several members of that squad to party in Miami to celebrate their win before heading to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Donald Trump and attend the State of the Union.
In the days after, Hughes made his NHL return and got a rousing ovation both in front of his New Jersey faithful and on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins and even appeared on “Saturday Night Live.”
It’s quite the change in fame for Hughes, who has also seen his social media followers skyrocket — although perhaps his all but confirmed relationship with Tate McRae has added to that.
Making an appearance at a New York Raising Cane’s with Women’s Olympic MVP and gold medalist Caroline Harvey to work a shift, Hughes said his newfound nationwide fame is “honestly, not that wild.” But it’s no secret that it’s certainly different.
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“Obviously, since we’ve come back to the U.S., you feel the love, people are still pumped for us. All the people in the streets, they’re like ‘Thank you.’ They’re so fired up. That’s the best thing for us to hear. That’s the best part, coming home,” Hughes said in Times Square.
The Raising Cane’s appearance was in enemy territory, just about 12 blocks away from his archrival New York Rangers’ home arena in Madison Square Garden. But even walking the streets of New York and north Jersey, where numerous Rangers fans reside, Hughes said he’s getting love from their fans.
“Even Rangers fans, they keep coming up to me like, ‘I’m a die-hard Rangers fan, but I’m having a hard time not rooting for you.’ I know that’s a great fan base too. Just all proud Americans,” Hughes said.
The golden goal is even sparing Rangers fans, somewhat. Over the weekend, Hughes recorded a hat trick against the Blueshirts in New Jersey, prompting the Devils crowd to break out into U-S-A chants.
“That was good. One of my teammates said I ruined the Devils organization because they’re skipping Devils chants, they go right to ‘U-S-A’ now,” Hughes joked. “That was cool, man, obviously, in New Jersey, my fans have been so pumped up for me and themselves that we won gold.”
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