skip navigation

2019 Draft Diary: Jack Hughes Discusses Recent Tournaments, Thanksgiving Day

By Jack Hughes / Special to NHL.com, 11/16/18, 7:15AM EST

Share

Jack Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver on June 21-22, will write a monthly diary this season for NHL.com leading up to the draft. The 17-year-old, who is the brother of Vancouver Canucks defenseman prospect Quinn Hughes, the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a center playing for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team this season. He leads the team with 36 points (nine goals, 27 assists) in 18 games. In his third entry, Hughes discusses the team's first-place finish at the U-18 Five Nations Tournament in the Czech Republic, as well as preparations for Thanksgiving Day.

Hello hockey fans.

Our team was in the Czech Republic last week to compete in the U-18 Five Nations Tournament. We won all four games -- against Sweden (8-2), Czech Republic (5-2), Switzerland (8-1) and Finland (3-2) -- to win the trophy. I've never been to the Czech Republic, so it was nice to visit. We didn't get a chance to do much sightseeing because there was a lot of hockey to play.

Things are really clicking for our team right now. Both goalies (Spencer Knight, Cameron Rowe) have played really well. As forwards, we're executing a system we like to play, and our defense doesn't give up a lot of chances and is hard to play against. I think it kind of excites our team a lot because we're kind of the big dog to beat, so it kind of ramps us up. We're excited for these tournaments.

Since last season, our team is unbeaten (18-0) in international competition. We're proud of that, but we don't think about it too much. During the tournament I didn't really think about it because we kind of just go there, think about the game and are excited to play the other countries. It's not like we have to win to keep our record intact, but it's just fun to win and beat those countries.

For the full diary, click here.

Watch the NTDP

Latest News

Feature Stories