On Tuesday, he was in a red non-contact jersey in Vancouver, practicing with the Canucks. On Thursday, he’d like to be in a red, white and blue Team USA jersey in Boston. But a lot has to happen between now and then for Quinn Hughes to have the chance to represent his country in the finale of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
As it stands right now, Hughes remains on standby and doesn’t have a spot on the American roster. After practice Tuesday at Rogers Arena, the Canucks captain expressed how much it would mean to him to have the chance to compete in the championship game of the National Hockey League’s mid-season tournament. However, he is well aware of the many hurdles that need to be cleared for that to happen.
The first is he needs a clean bill of health from Canucks doctors.
“I felt good out there (today),” Hughes told the media after the team’s 45 minute skate. “In a perfect world, the medical team would like me to take it step by step the next couple of days, but I feel really good right now.”
As for a cross-continent trip to take part in Thursday’s tournament title showdown, Hughes wants badly to be a part of it all. But he knows that as things stand at the moment, he’s still not eligible based on the rules as they’re written.
“I really want to and obviously it’s been really hard to watch and I want to play, but from what I can understand the rules are the rules,” he explained. “I’m a competitor and feel like I want to play and need to be there.”
As of reports late Tuesday afternoon, Team USA has six healthy defencemen for Thursday’s game making Hughes ineligible to play. However, in the event of an injury to one of those six blueliners or if the Americans run into issues up front, it’s conceivable Team USA could go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen – in which case Hughes might be an option if the NHL and the league’s Players Association give Hughes the green light.
All of this has to happen soon enough for Hughes to grab a flight to get to Boston to be an option. But he didn’t sound like he was preparing to fly on Tuesday night. So the various decisions regarding Hughes’ health and his availability will have to be made on Wednesday. If he’s on the ice with his Vancouver teammates for their 11:30am practice at Rogers Arena, then that will be a pretty clear indication that Hughes is sticking around town and setting his sights on the team’s next game on Saturday in Vegas. However, if he’s not there, then look for him to be in the US line-up along side his brother Jack on Thursday.
It’s important to remember that Hughes has missed the Canucks past four games with what has been reported as an oblique injury and has not suited up for an NHL game since January 31st in Dallas. He has skated just three times in the past 20 days and could suddenly be dropped into a high stakes one-game winner take all match-up with intensity through the roof and a game dripping with feeling from Saturday’s round robin tone-setter and one draped by political overtones.
It’s hard to imagine anyone being fully ready for that kind of challenge. Then again, if anyone could handle it, it would be Quinn Hughes who seems like he’s built for such moments.
“I guess I could fly down there and fly back, but we’ll just see where this goes,” he said.
Quinn Hughes is one phone call – and one long flight – from getting his chance to play in the 4 Nations tournament after all. If the NHL truly wants this to be a best on best affair, then it only seems right that Hughes gets his shot to play.
Read today’s edition of Scenes from Canucks practice by clicking here, and watch the full scrum with Hughes below!
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