New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes became an Olympic hero back in February for Team USA. His golden goal won Team USA its first Gold medal since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. However, this goal has become the center of controversy in recent days. More specifically, the controversy surrounds ownership of the goal puck.
Hughes has expressed his desire to own the golden goal puck. But the goal puck is currently in possession of the Hockey Hall of Fame. On Wednesday, the Hockey Hall of Fame said it would not give the Devils star the puck despite his attempts to retrieve it. After New Jersey's win on Wednesday, Hughes responded to the controversy.
“Obviously honored that the puck’s there. 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 [this week]. That's just the way I felt,” the Devils star said, via ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
Both of Team USA's golden goal pucks are currently in possession of the Hall of Fame. His puck is joined by the golden goal puck scored by Megan Keller, a defenseman who plays professionally for the PWHL's Boston Fleet. She, like Hughes, scored her golden goal against Canada in overtime in Milan.
“Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack's puck to own,” Philip Pritchard, vice president of the resource center and curator for the Hockey Hall of Fame, said on Wednesday about Hughes's puck, via ESPN. “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.”
