He’d just won Olympic gold and his brother got the winning goal against Canada, so USA hockey star Quinn Hughes had plenty of reasons to be celebrating on Sunday night.
But the jubilant 26-year-old was slightly worse for wear when he joined NBC and Mike Tirico alongside victorious teammates Dylan Larkin, brother Jack and USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
It looked like Hellebuyck and Jack Hughes were doing their best to keep Quinn upright and on two feet as he spoke to Tirico about how much the team’s historic victory meant.
But Quinn still took his chance to send a patriotic message back to the United States, saying: ‘It’s just so special and I want to thank our troops for allowing us to play this game.
Hughes was talking with a beer in his hand, while Jack held the microphone up for him to speak. They were briefly interrupted by Larkin cheering behind them, who also had a beer, before Hughes continued.
‘Thank our troops for allowing us to play this game and thank all the support back home,’ Quinn added. ‘Very special to be a part of this group and it’s awesome. We are gold medal.
Quinn Hughes thanked American troops in an interview about winning hockey gold
Quinn pictured celebrating alongide brother Jack (left) who scored the winning goal
The USA beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim the gold medal in Milan on Sunday
Hughes then handed the mic to teammate Larkin and said: ‘Shoutout Larks.’
Larkin chuckled before adding: ‘I gotta say hi to Mike Tirico! Mikey! Let’s go, baby! Number One!’
Quinn won over even more fans by shouting out the US troops. One viewer shared the clip on X and wrote: ‘The first thing black out Quinn Hughes thinks of doing on live tv is thanking the troops for allowing him to play hockey. We are back. America pride is back.’
Another said: ‘Quinn Hughes thanking the troops is 10/10.’
It was a tone similar to his brother Jack, who spoke about how much of a proud American he is shortly after scoring the winning goal on Sunday.
‘This is all about our country right now,’ he said, visibly overcome with emotion. ‘This is all about our country. I love the USA. I love my teammates… I’m so proud to be an American today.
‘That’s a great Canadian team, but we’re USA, we’re so proud to be Americans, tonight was all for the country.
‘It’s everything, the USA hockey brotherhood means so much, we’re such a team, we’ve been together for two weeks, but we’re such a team. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong, and we’re so proud to win for our country.’
Quinn’s brother Jack even lost some teeth during the gripping showdown with Canada
Jack and Quinn Hughes celebrate together on the ice in thee aftermath of beating Canada
The clip caught the attention of vice president JD Vance, who praised Hughes for his message and for also talking despite losing teeth on the ice during the game.
Vance wrote on X: ‘Heart full of pride for his country and a few front teeth gone missing.
‘That’s American hockey right there. Congratulations to Jack and everyone on Team USA for bringing home the gold.’
Elsewhere in the interview with Tirico, Jack shouted out goalie Hellebuyck once again.
The USA man stopped 41 of the 42 shots fired at him by Canada in Milan and in the immediate aftermath of the game, Hughes was quick to say in his post-game interview that his teammate was the real star of the show.
‘Connor Hellebuyck, best player in the world tonight,’ Jack said to Tirico.
‘It’s about the team, it’s about representing the USA, it’s about all the people that helped us get here. Just so proud.’
