It’s not every day that a professional athlete gets to play alongside a sibling, whether that be in the NHL or the NBA.
It’s even a rarer occasion for an athlete to participate in the Olympics with their sibling.
In this year’s Winter Olympics, both the New Jersey Devils’ Jack and the Minnesota Wild’s Quinn Hughes are both playing for the United States Men’s Hockey team in this year’s Winter Olympic games.
However, they are also joined by an individual who helped shape their hockey career. Their mom, Ellen Hughes.
E. Hughes will be working with the USA Women’s Hockey team for the Olympics, working as a player development coach.
“Never in a million years did I think that I would be in Italy and have the opportunity to be a part of the women’s Olympic team. And then to have two sons there, you just count your blessings,” E. Hughes said in an article from the New York Times. “It’s a blessing… and hope for a lot of wins.”
Both the men’s and women’s squads have each had their fair share of success in this year’s Olympics.
The women’s team will head to the gold medal game scheduled on Feb. 19, where they will take on Team Canada. Puck drops Thursday at 1:10 p.m. It should be a fun one for fans to watch, as United States defeated Canada 5-0 in the preliminary rounds.
As for the men’s crew, they just completed their preliminary round of games, finishing with a 5-1 win against Germany on Sunday.
Q. Hughes finished this round, racking up four assists in three games played. His brother, J. Hughes, drew up a goal and two assists.
“The best part for me is being here with Quinn. We’re lucky that we get to share our first Olympics with our mom, too. Who gets to say that? It’s pretty special.” J. Hughes said in an article from NHL.com.
Both brothers are relishing this time with one another, after not being able to play together in the Four Nations faceoff tournament last year. Despite J. Hughes playing for his country, Q. Hughes could not due to an oblique injury.
With both Hughes brothers and more talented players, like Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk, at the squad’s disposal, Head Coach Mike Sullivan is satisfied with his roster.
Sullivan described Q. Hughes as a “gamechanger” in an article from NHL.com and elaborated more on his integral style of play on the blue line.
“He defends so well with his mobility and his stick, and you watch him both 5-on-5 and on the power play and how dynamic he is, whether it be with our transition game or jumping off the offensive blue, he’s a unique player, and so to have him as part of the group this year, I think, is a huge boost for us.” Sullivan said to NHL.com.
As for J. Hughes, Sullivan attributed his attitude as one of his best traits the forward brings to the ice.
“He’s amongst the very best, and that in and of itself is an incredible honor. To be in the conversation to make this roster is extremely difficult when you look at the amount of talent that the United States has developed and can play at this level.” Sullivan said to NHL.com.
The men’s team will shift their focus to going for gold. They are set to take on an opponent to be determined for the quarter-final game on Wednesday, with a puck drop scheduled for 3:10 p.m.