Follow DUBNetwork throughout the entire 2019 World Junior Championships for up to date coverage on not only WHL players, but storylines to follow.
Jack Hughes will change an NHL team’s fortunes when he’s drafted at the top of his class in June, but there is another team he wants to lead to glory first.
“I don’t wan’t to just play, I wan’t to be an impact player”
– Jack Hughes on playing for Team USA
On Thursday, December 20th USA played their first exhibition game as a team vs the Russians. The game was a bit sloppy, which was to be expected, but overall, Hughes thought the team was coming together.
“We played the full sixty, got off to a little bit of a slow start but ended up winning… These games are huge, getting our legs under us, we haven’t played for 10 days probably. This was the first real game with our new players and new systems. Kinda getting to know each other on the ice and build a little chemistry.” The draft-eligible forward continued “We feel pretty good, obviously, we were missing five or six of our really good players but we came out with the win and we looked really good.”
USA Hockey overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Russians with Jack scoring the game winner. Before that though, he had committed a turnover behind his own net that allowed the Russians to score their second.
“Obviously, I kind of made a mistake there, but I just had to bounce back and leave it in the rear-view mirror. I was just happy to get the game winner and get the win,” said Hughes.
The Kamloops crowd was noticeably pro-USA; cheering loudly when Hughes scored the winner. “It was fun, it was a really good atmosphere and crowd. We are happy to put a win on for them if they were cheering for us.” said Hughes when asked about Canadian fans cheering for the States.
The five-foot-ten inch forward is looking to become only the fourth player born in Orlando, Florida to be drafted to the NHL. If everything goes as planned, Jack will be selected first overall at the NHL entry draft in June. “He creates opportunities, he does it through deception and quickness, he’s always a threat. Right now his game is still trying to mature and grow.” said USA Head Coach Mike Hastings “He’s a special player and a special talent. He’s about as competitive as they come, that might run in the bloodlines a bit. He’s humble and you enjoy being around him because he’s got a passion of wanting to be a successful as he can be.”
Jack’s older brother, Quinn, who was also born in Orlando was drafted seventh overall by the Vancouver Canucks in last year’s NHL entry draft, will figure prominently on this USA team and was healthy scratched Thursday vs the Russians. “It would have been nice to have him, but we will have him soon,” Jack said when asked about his brother.
When Team USA opens the 2019 World Junior Championships in Victoria they will be looking to hit the ground running. This year’s edition of the tournament shapes up very nicely for the Americans, their first two games come against lighter weights Slovakia and Kazakhstan.
After that, the competition really ramps up when they take on Sweden and then close out the round robin against Finland. “There are going to be a lot of good teams: Sweden, Russia, Finland, the Czechs. It’s not just Canada and the US,” said Hughes.
USA is always a medal favorite, especially in recent years. They have medaled in three straight World Juniors winning Bronze last year. Some early prognostications have the USA as only a slight underdog to win gold, behind the host Canadians. “I think any US team can compete [for a championship]. We have won three straight medals and at every level we are really competitive and have a chance to win at every tournament we are in.”
After the game, Hughes raved about his linemates Joel Farabee and Oliver Wahlstrom. “It’s great to play with those guys, we played together most of last year. Obviously, Olli [Wahlstrom] is such a great scorer and Joel is a Swiss army knife, he can do everything really well.”
With players like Farabee and Wahlstrom flanking his line, Jack will have every opportunity to lead his country to Gold en route to achieving another career milestone when he is drafted to the NHL in June.
