Keeper Of The Stanley Cup Says Jack Hughes Isn't Getting His Olympic Puck Back

I had the sense that the intensity between the US and Canada would not subside even after the Olympics had wrapped up. That said, I didn't think it would manifest itself in an international custody battle over Jack Hughes' Golden Goal puck.

But, alas, here we are.

Earlier this week, Hughes called the fact that his puck, as well as the one that sealed the deal for the US women's team's gold medal, is in the Hockey Hall of Fame "bulls--t."

And it kind of is.

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I mean, at the very least, shouldn't it be here in the US of A?

You'd think all parties would be in favor of it, with the Canadians not wanting a reminder of how Nate MacKinnon whiffed on a wide-open net.

Now the Hockey Hall of Fame — specifically "Keeper of the Cup" and the Hall of Fame's curator Phil Pritchard — is firing back, saying it was never Hughes' puck.

"Unfortunately, in the easiest words, it was never Jack’s puck to own," Pritchard and his fantastic head of hockey lettuce told ESPN.

"It’s been donated to us now. For every artifact that’s been donated, we have a paper trail and signed paperwork of where it’s come from."

It doesn't sound like the Hockey Hall of Fame has plans to fork the Golden Goal puck over to Jack Hughes anytime soon. (Getty Images)

You'd think that if someone donated the puck to the Hall of Fame, they could then, in turn, donate it to the players who scored the goals.

But, according to Pritchard, we can blame Canada for this one.

"Part of being a nonprofit registered charity in Canada is that it becomes kind of a legal document that we’ve received it as a donation," he said. "We’ve insured it, we’ve preserved it, we conserved everything. It becomes part of our institution."

It's a bummer. I feel like the only way this could've been avoided was if one American player was thinking quickly enough to grab it and tuck it into his pads or hand it to a coach.

But that didn't happen, so it seems like the only way Hughes will get to see the puck is if he drops by the Hockey Hall of Fame on the Devils' next visit to Toronto.