![\"Share](\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\")
(JTA) \u2014 Jack Hughes, even at 18, is no stranger to making history. And now he\u2019s done it again, becoming the first Jewish player to be drafted No. 1 overall by the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n
The New Jersey Devils picked Hughes, a Florida native who grew up in Ontario, Canada, on Friday. He\u2019s the son of a Jewish mother and Catholic father \u2014 both big-time hockey players back in the day \u2014 who attended Catholic high school but had a bar mitzvah.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did Passover when we were younger,\u201d the teen phenom told \u201cThe Michael Kay Show\u201d on ESPN Radio on Monday.<\/p>\n
His older brother, Quinn, was the No. 7 pick a year ago by the Vancouver Canucks. Both were members of the U.S. squad in the Men\u2019s World Championship last month in Slovakia. They have a 15-year-old brother, Luke, who appears to be following in their footsteps.
\nBeing chosen No. 1 overall \u201cobviously is special \u2026 really exciting,\u201d he told Kay and his sidekicks.<\/p>\n
Does this mean at Christmas you get to brag? they asked Hughes, a 5-10, 170-pound forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just Christmas but the other 364 days, too,\u201d he responded, noting the siblings\u2019 competitiveness. His brother is a defenseman.<\/p>\n
In the recently completed season, Hughes broke the U.S. National Team Development Program record for points with 190.<\/p>\n
For Hughes and his brothers, the hockey lineage comes from their parents. Mom Ellen Weinberg-Hughes was a member of the U.S. women\u2019s national squad that took silver in the 1992 World Championships, while dad Jim played for Providence College before becoming a coach and working in player development with the NHL\u2019s Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in my blood to be an athlete, to be a hockey player,\u201d Hughes said on the Kay show. \u201cMy parents are having a ball with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Devils expect quite a bit from their top choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s going to change our organization,\u201d an executive and a former star goalie with the club said, according to the Breaking Israel News website. \u201cHe\u2019s a tremendous talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon confirming Hughes\u2019 Jewishness, one of Kay\u2019s sidekicks, Peter Rosenberg, was on board as a fan, forsaking his former favorite, Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 great Sidney Crosby (who\u2019s not Jewish).<\/p>\n
\u201cDude, we\u2019re counting on you,\u201d Rosenberg told Hughes.<\/p>\n