On Sunday morning, Jack Hughes is going to do his best to bring a gold medal back to the United States. He’s been a superstar on the international stage and has a chance to win tournament MVP if the Americans take home the gold. It would be the first time a New Jersey Devils player won the top prize at the Olympics when it comes to hockey, but it’s not the first time a Devils player played a big role in a gold medal game.
The first time the NHL sent players to the Olympics was 1998, and in a shock to many, the gold medal game was a matchup between the then-Czech Republic and Russia. There were no current Devils in the game, but there were plenty of former and future Devils, like Jaromir Jagr, Valeri Zelepukin, and Sergei Nemchinov.
The next year, the Devils and the rest of the NHL sent players to the Olympics, which were held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The United States is home to the NHL, so this was like sending the players to their home turf. And, interestingly enough, this was the first time a best-on-best tournament at the Olympics ended with Canada and the United States.
This obviously had multiple Devils involved. Martin Brodeur was the starting goalie for the Canadians, and Scott Niedermayer was one of their top defensemen. On the other side, Brian Rafalski was a young defenseman playing big minutes for the Americans, and he scored a goal in the gold medal game, beating his teammate Brodeur. The power-play goal made it 2-2 in the second period.
Brodeur shut the door from there. Canada ended up scoring three more goals, and the U.S. couldn’t beat the Devils’ star, with Brodeur bringing his first gold medal to his Hall of Fame resume. Niedermayer finished the game without a point, but he had a ridiculous +3 goal differential.
The Devils sent six players to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but none of them made it to the gold medal game. Patrik Elias walked away with a bronze medal, but that was it for 2006. Sweden shocked the world on the back of Henrik Lundqvist to win gold, with Brodeur and the Canadians and Rafalski, Scott Gomez, and Brian Gionta with Team USA watching from the sidelines.
Jack Hughes can join a long list of Devils players who starred in the gold medal game at the Winter Olympics
In 2010, we got back to what everyone wanted to see: Canada and the United States in the final game of the Olympics. Brodeur was once again on the gold-medal-winning Canada team, but he wasn’t the starter. Roberto Luongo took his team to the promised land.
However, it came within inches of going the way of the Americans, and it was all thanks to one Devils player who sent the game to overtime. Zach Parise scored the game-tying goal with 24 seconds left to tie the game at two. The primary assist on Parise’s goal was New Jersey Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner. It was as much the Devils’ goal as it was the Americans’ goal.
The 2014 Olympics in Sochi were the first time that NHL players were invited to the Olympics and Brodeur wasn’t representing Team Canada. The Devils only sent four players to the Olympics, and three of them played for the Czech Republic team. The other was Damien Brunner for Switzerland.
None of those players could overcome Canada, who once again took home the gold. They faced former Devils player Johnny Oduya and future Devils player Marcus Johansson.
Now, Jack Hughes looks to become the next player who helps his team in the gold medal game. Devils players have a history here, but Hughes could make the biggest impact, possibly short of Brodeur, at the 2002 Olympics.