When Jack Hughes scored his golden goal to beat Canada and give the United States its first Olympic hockey gold in 46 years, the puck itself went to Canada to the Hockey Hall of Fame
Now Hughes himself wants it back.
“I’m trying to get it,” Hughes told ESPN “Like, that’s bullsh--- that the Hockey Hall of Fame has it, in my opinion. Why would they have that puck?”
Well, we know how they got it.
Soon after Hughes told the world he did not know where it went, cllct learned that the puck was technically property of the International Ice Hockey Federation. And it was the IIHF who gave the puck to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Technically, neither Hughes nor Megan Keller - whose goal brought gold to the USA for the women - own the rights to their pucks, but that isn’t much different from other historical situations where exceptions are frequently made.
The Miami Heat technically own the jersey and game ball from Bam Adebayo's historic 83-point outing last week. But the team let him walk away with both. Alex Ovechkin took his jersey that he scored his record 895th NHL goal in for himself and Tom Brady kept all his Super Bowl jerseys for himself without a fight from the Patriots.
Sure, it’s a hockey moment and one could make the argument that it belongs in the Hall of Fame, but the appearance of it being taken without the player’s knowledge comes off to some as strange — especially given the Canadian angle.
“I don’t see why Megan Keller or I shouldn’t have those pucks,” he told ESPN, adding that he’d like to give the puck from his to his father.
Even though the Team USA jerseys aren’t technically their property, sources told cllct that players were allowed to keep the jerseys from their gold medal winning games.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.