She didn’t even panic.” That’s what Jack Hughes said about his mom after the most chaotic moment of his Olympic career. Fresh off an overtime game-winning goal in the U.S. men’s hockey gold medal game, Jack Hughes was still processing the roar of history — and the fact that he had just lost his teeth on the ice in the collision that followed. Blood. Ice. Gold. But when he called home, Ellen Hughes was calm. Almost too calm. Instead of shock, she shared a story no one had ever heard before — about the first time Jack lost a tooth as a kid, long before arenas and overtime winners. According to Jack, she laughed and said, “You’ve been leaving pieces of yourself on the ice your whole life.” It wasn’t just a hockey injury. It was a full-circle moment. From childhood milestones to Olympic gold, the reaction in that conversation said more than the scoreboard ever could. There’s a clip of Jack describing it — and the way he smiles halfway through says everything.
Could Jack Hughes go from gold medal to gold teeth? Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the United States’ men’s hockey team’s gold medal game against Canada at the Milan Cortina...
