NEW YORK — After his comments to ESPN on Tuesday, saying he wanted his Olympic golden goal puck back from the Hockey Hall of Fame, made headlines, Jack Hughes said he’s “honored that the puck is there.”
“It’s like the most special place in hockey,” he said after a three-point night Wednesday against the Rangers. “I’m honored that it’s there, but obviously I think things were taken crazy. That’s the way I felt. I didn’t know where the puck was. It is what it is.”
On a Feb. 26 interview on TNT, Hughes said he wasn’t aware of the puck’s whereabouts. Then, in Tuesday’s ESPN story, he said, “I’m trying to get it.”
“Like, that’s bulls— that the Hockey Hall of Fame has it, in my opinion,” he told ESPN. “Why would they have that puck?”
National outlets ran articles about his quote, and ESPN personality Pat McAfee posted on X, “Let’s get Jack Hughes his puck back.”
Philip Pritchard, the Hall of Fame’s curator, responded and made it clear that it would not be giving Hughes the puck.
“Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack’s puck to own,” Pritchard 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.”
A Devils spokesperson said Hughes wasn’t previously aware of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s process regarding pucks from international competitions. The IIHF donated the puck to the Hall of Fame.
Asked if he has any plans to reach out to the Hall of Fame about the puck, Hughes said no.
“I’ve been playing hockey,” he said. “That’s where my head’s at.”