Hughes Brothers Hockey: Quinn Hughes’ overtime winner sends U.S. into Olympic semifinals, reading list shows surprising tastes
Hughes Brothers Hockey star Quinn Hughes scored the winning goal in the U. S. ’s overtime win over Sweden on Feb. 18 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, a strike that put Team USA into the semifinals. Off the ice, Hughes’ public reading list — compiled with the Vancouver Public Library — reveals tastes that run from legal thrillers to poetry, offering a fuller portrait of the defenseman now playing in a medal chase.
Hughes Brothers Hockey on the Olympic stage
Quinn Hughes’ overtime goal came in the quarterfinals, beating Sweden and advancing the U. S. into the semifinals with a shot at a medal. Teammate and brother Jack Hughes called the play “a massive goal, massive moment, ” praising Quinn for taking over in a pressure-packed situation. The win followed U. S. victories earlier in the tournament over Latvia, Denmark and Germany, setting up the next single-elimination round for the American squad.
Reading list reveals diverse tastes
Hughes set up a reading list with the Vancouver Public Library and has said he reads two or three books per month. The list includes John Grisham’s The Judge’s List, James Patterson’s 1st to Die, Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle and A Place Called Freedom, Jon Krakauer’s Where Men Win Glory, John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion, Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat and Michael Lewis’ Moneyball. He also lists Frank Herbert’s Dune, Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation and the 2024 edition of Best American Poetry, which features poets such as Billy Collins and Ada Limón.
A family shaped by the game
Quinn and Jack are sons of Jim and Ellen Hughes, both of whom are hockey coaches; Ellen helped the U. S. women’s hockey team win gold. The brothers skated together for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, while their sibling Luke plays alongside Jack on the New Jersey Devils but did not make the Olympic roster. Jack, the team’s noted forward, praised Quinn after the Sweden game, and the two brothers are already household names in this Olympic run.
The family also has ties to youth reading efforts: Jack and Luke launched a program called Pucks & Pages that supplies books to youth hockey players in New Jersey, beginning last fall with the book Fast Pitch. Quinn previously played for the Vancouver Canucks before joining the Minnesota Wild, and his reading list was compiled with a Vancouver public institution, linking his past club city to his off-ice interests.
Quinn missed the previous Team USA roster because of a lower-body/oblique injury but returned to form for this tournament. On the topic of his on-ice demeanor — frequently described in memes as a blank, ghost-seeing stare — Quinn said he is usually “pretty zoned in” and focused on what he needs to do, explaining that fans sometimes joke about his concentration style.
Team USA now advances to the semifinal round at the Milan Cortina Olympics, with the next game set to determine whether the Americans will play for a medal. Recovery and preparation for that semifinal are the immediate priorities for the players and coaches after the Sweden victory.
