From Olympic gold to SNL stages, Quinn Hughes navigates a whirlwind week of global acclaim before returning to the rink.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — It’s been one week since Quinn Hughes won a gold medal.
In that week he’s been to the White House, done the media tour circuit, played three games for the Wild and on Saturday night he stood on the stage at Saturday Night Live before returning home on Sunday to face the St. Louis Blues.
“It’s pretty special," Hughes said on being on SNL. "I mean, a little tired right now, but to be able to do it with my family and Megan and Hilary is pretty cool. And the cast, it was special.”
That’s not a normal NHL week. It has been a whirlwind, and he knows it.
“I mean, it's been a week since we won gold. It's a crazy week, and trying to take the most, take it all in and have some cool opportunities, and I'll do that, and then hopefully, after tomorrow, just put that away for a little while and start focusing on what I need to do to help our team win. Thought played okay tonight, but obviously you want the two points.”
After the game on Sunday, Hughes hopped on a plane and headed to do another show. This time it is the Jimmy Fallon show. After he appears on that on Monday night, Hughes will hop on another plane and play the Tampa Bay Lightning at home on Tuesday night.
The balance is obvious. Enjoy it. Then get back to work and Hughes understands what keeps him playing at his best.
“I don't know. I like pride myself on, well, just for me, from you know, what I've learned about myself over the years is you just need rest and got to find boredom," Hughes said. "If I want to play 28 minutes and play it the way that I want to play the game, you have to be well rested. So I know what the secret sauce is for me. So it's been a long week. I mean, it's been a long week for everyone. I mean, I don't know, we had eight, nine guys, or whatever it was, and most of our staff at the Olympics and guys are getting settled in again, and might take a couple days, but yeah.”
Head coach John Hynes said rest and recovery would largely be dictated by Hughes. But the Wild have also encouraged him to take the opportunity while it’s here to do all these things.
Wild General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin said he told Hughes to embrace it.
“Yeah, it's been crazy. I know it's worried him because he wants to continue to deliver for the Wild," Guerin said. "We've talked about it and I've encouraged him to do this. Just kind of soak it in, like this might be a once in a lifetime thing. So you get to do Saturday Night Live? Go. You get to do all these other things? Do it. You know what? Yeah, you might be a little tired for today's game and the next game, I get it, I get it, I get it, but do it. And yeah, enjoy it because you can rest.”
Guerin also acknowledged how rare the moment was.
“Saturday Night Live has got an incredible history of not just the actors, but the music side of it, too. And so to have, … my God, the people that have been on that stage over the 50 plus years it's been around, are pretty remarkable. So for a Minnesota Wild player to be up there and to have four Olympic hockey players up there is pretty incredible.”
Through all of it, Guerin has noticed how Hughes has handled the attention.
“I think the great thing about it is that he handles things with such humility. Those boys, they're just so humble and together, the way they act, you wouldn't think they're these three star hockey players, and getting all this attention now and the way they handle themselves is pretty amazing. They were raised right.”
Hughes admitted the SNL moment came with nerves, maybe more nerves than playing hockey itself.
“That's nerve wracking. I mean, it was awesome, and just to invite us, and you want to make them look good, too, and I mean, it's just an incredible experience. And really thankful to everyone involved. And it was special, for sure.”
Hughes knows what the next phase looks like. Enjoy it while it’s here. Then dial it back in. For now, it has been gold medals, Studio 8H and national attention.
Soon enough, it will just be 28 minutes a night again. And that is exactly how he prefers it.
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