![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262972645-1.avif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nJack Hughes #86 and Quinn Hughes #43 of Team United States celebrate winning the gold medals after the team\u2019s 2-1 overtime victory in the Men\u2019s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States of the 2026 Winter Olympic games in Milan, Feb. 22, 2026. (Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The New Jersey Devils star center, who had scored twice in Team USA\u2019s semifinal win, sent the puck between the legs of Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington 1:41 into overtime to give the American team a 2-1 win.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all about our country right now. I love the USA,\u201d Hughes told NBC. \u201cI love my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win broke a 46-year Olympic drought for Team USA, which had not taken gold since the famous \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d team that upset the Soviet Union on its way to gold in 1980. The United States also won in 1960.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a freaking gamer,\u201d Quinn Hughes, Jack\u2019s older brother and U.S. teammate said, according to The Athletic. \u201cHe\u2019s always been a gamer. Just mentally tough, been through a lot, loves the game. American hero.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinn Hughes is a defender for the Minnesota Wild and a former captain of the Vancouver Canucks who won the NHL\u2019s top defenseman award in 2024. He was also named the best defender in the Olympic tournament by the International Ice Hockey Federation after scoring an overtime goal to send the U.S. team to the semifinals.<\/p>\n
The third Jewish member of the U.S. team, Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, won the one game he played, a Feb. 14 preliminary-round victory over Denmark.<\/p>\n
The Hughes family \u2014 rounded out by youngest brother Luke, who also plays for the Devils \u2014 has long been lauded as a Jewish hockey dynasty. They are the first American family to have three siblings picked in the first round of the NHL draft, and Jack was the first Jewish player to go No. 1 overall. They are also the first trio of Jewish brothers to play in the same NHL game and the first brothers to earn cover honors for EA Sports\u2019 popular hockey video game.<\/p>\n
Jack, who had a bar mitzvah, has said his family celebrated Passover when he was growing up. Their mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, who is Jewish, represented the U.S. women\u2019s hockey team at the 1992 Women\u2019s World Championships and was on the coaching staff of the gold-medal-winning women\u2019s team in Milan. Weinberg-Hughes is also a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Hughes\u2019 golden goal ushered in a burst of Jewish pride on social media, with one user calling it \u201cthe greatest Jewish sports moment of all time.\u201d The Hockey News tweeted that Hughes was \u201c\u200b\u200bthe first player in hockey history to have a Bar Mitzvah and a Golden Goal! Pretty cool!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jewish groups and leaders also jumped on the praise train. \u201cSpecial shout out to @jhugh86 on scoring the game-winning goal!\u201d tweeted Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. \u201cBeyond his incredible skill on the ice, Jack makes history as a proud representative of the American Jewish community, reminding us that the Jewish people are interwoven into America in her 250th year! Mazel Tov, Jack!\u201d<\/p>\n