Jack Hughes Gets ‘Emotional’ While Giving Shout-Out to U.S. Men and Women’s Olympic Hockey Teams at Devils Homecoming

Skyler CarusoThu, February 26, 2026 at 4:09 PM UTC

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Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils during a pregame welcome home ceremony after he scored the "golden goal" for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: Ishika Samant/Getty -

Jack Hughes shared a tribute on Feb. 25 to the U.S. men and women's hockey teams after their respective wins at the 2026 Winter Olympics

The New Jersey Devils star took center ice to share a few words during a pre-game ceremony upon his return back from Milan after scoring the "golden goal" for Team USA

He also took a moment to honor Sabres star Tage Thompson, who helped contribute to the team's gold medal win on Feb. 22

Jack Hughes is shining a light on Team USA.

The New Jersey Devils star, 24, who scored the golden goal at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday, Feb. 22, shared a heartfelt tribute to both the U.S. men and women's teams after they respectively defeated Canada 2-1 at the Milan Games last week.

Hughes took center ice at the Prudential Center for a pregame ceremony that honored his Olympic accomplishments upon his return home on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Following a roar from an amped-up crowd and a simultaneous standing ovation, the Devils forward took the mic to share a few words.

Jack Hughes and Tage Thompson salute the crowd before the NHL regular season game against the Buffalo Sabres at the Prudential Center on Feb. 25, 2026 in Newark, New JerseyCredit: Andrew Maclean/NHLI via Getty

"What's up, guys," Hughes began, pausing while the fans cheered even louder before continuing his speech. "I'm so proud and I'm so happy that the men and women's USA hockey teams brought gold medals back to the United States of America," he said, passionately pumping his fist in the air.

"You guys are making me emotional," he said. "But I'm so proud to represent the New Jersey Devils organization, and I'm so, so proud to represent the great state of New Jersey. So proud."

Hughes concluded, "And from the bottom of my heart — all my teammates, all my USA teammates, I want to thank you guys for all the love and support. We feel it. Thank you."

Moments before beginning his speech, Hughes took a moment to bring Buffalo Sabres star Tage Thompson to center ice alongside him in an unplanned tribute, honoring his fellow U.S. men's hockey teammate who helped Team USA bring home the gold.

Both Hughes and Thompson were contributors in the U.S. men's hockey 2-1 victory over Canada at the 2026 Winter Games, which marked the first Olympic win for the team since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.

Hughes' tribute to the men and women's Olympic hockey teams at the Devils' home game, which saw New Jersey fall 2-1 to the Sabres after Thompson's 31st goal of the season in the second period, comes shortly after he addressed the White House invite "backlash" in the Milan locker room.

Jack Hughes #86 of the New Jersey Devils plays against the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 26, 2026.Credit: Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty

The U.S. men's hockey team sparked controversy after accepting a personal invite in a now-viral phone call in the Olympic locker room from President Donald Trump, who asked the team to visit the White House in celebration of their win ahead of his State of the Union address.

When asked by the Daily Mail how he felt about the visit and meeting the president, Hughes — who scored the "golden goal" to win the game for the men's hockey team's first Olympic win since the 1980 Miracle on Ice — replied that they were "excited" about it.

"Everything is so political. We're athletes. We're so proud to represent the U.S. and we get the chance to go to the White House, meet the president. You know, we're proud to be Americans," he told the outlet. "No matter what your views are, we're super excited to go."

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Also during the call, Trump called their win "unbelievable" and invited the team to the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 24. He also jokingly told the men's team he would "probably" be impeached if he didn't also invite the women's hockey team to Washington, D.C.

Jack Hughes of Team USA after winning the "golden goal" at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Credit: Elsa/Getty

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” the president, 79, said, laughing as the men’s hockey team took the call from their locker room. “You do know that. I do believe I’d probably would be impeached [if the women’s team wasn’t invited].”

The players on the team joined in on the laughter.

In the days that followed, U.S. women's team captain Hilary Knight — who played in her fifth and final Olympics and became the top goal scorer in U.S. Olympic history with her tally — deemed Trump's comment a "distasteful joke" when opening up about the remark along with several of her teammates.

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"I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats,” Knight told ESPN on Wednesday.

"We're just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men's and women's at the same time," Knight said. "And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke."

U.S. women's hockey team wins gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 19, 2026.Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty

Despite what transpired on the phone call, the athlete maintained that the men's and women's hockey teams still share a mutual respect for one another.

"I think there's a genuine level of support there and respect," Knight said. "I think that's being overshadowed by a quick lapse.”

Hughes doubled down on his respect for the women's team, where his mom Ellen Hughes works as a player development coach, when asked during a press conference after the Devils-Sabres game on Wednesday.

"You’re in the moment,” he said when asked about the joke. “We’re blaring the music. They pause the music, and then the president calls. It is what it is now, but we have so much respect for the women’s team, they have so much respect for us."

He concluded, "We’re all just proud Americans and we’re happy that we both swept the Olympics."

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Source: “AOL Sports”