A look back at Quinn Hughes' final season at Michigan
A collection of stories and moments inside Quinn's last college season
562 days ago, Quinn Hughes played his last game for Michigan.
544 days ago, he played his first NHL game for the Vancouver Canucks.
Tonight, he’ll be announced as either the winner or the runner-up of the Calder trophy for the NHL’s rookie of the year, after what might be the longest rookie season in the history of the league.
Quinn’s second season at Michigan was also my first season covering the team for Michigan’s student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. The Wolverines weren’t very good that year and ended their season getting swept by Minnesota in a nearly-empty rink in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
But despite the poor performance of the team, I got to see Hughes play 28 of the 32 games he played that year. It was as awesome as it sounds.
Quinn was clearly the best player on the team, and by about week two of the season, it was clear he’d be heading to the NHL as soon as the season was over.
In honor of tonight’s Calder announcement and the culmination of his rookie year, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite stories of Quinn from his last year at Michigan.
Brother vs. brother
The first time I talked to Quinn was in early October 2018, the day before his brother, Jack, and the rest of the U18 team from the National Team Development Program were coming to Ann Arbor for an exhibition game.
I was writing a story about the brothers facing off for the first time in their careers, and I was pretty nervous to talk to Hughes, but all things considered, it went pretty well.
It was clear from the moment I started asking about Jack that Quinn loved to talk about his brother. He told me Jack was his best friend, which was wholesome. It also felt true, which isn’t always the case when players give an answer like that.
“He’s probably my best friend,” Quinn said. “I don’t get to see him that much, but when I do, I obviously take advantage of it. It should be really fun. I’m excited to see him.”
My biggest memory from that week is that Quinn was hurt and didn’t know if he’d play but he really wanted to play against his brother. I remember being surprised by that level of competitiveness for an exhibition game, but as the season went on, it became very clear that that’s just how Quinn is.
“I thought I could’ve had six assists”
In late November, Michigan lost to Michigan State in East Lansing. The Wolverines led, 2-1, early in the second period but ultimately lost, 4-3, despite outshooting the Spartans 46-29. Quinn had an assist on all three Michigan goals.
At some point in the interview scrum after the game, Quinn was asked a question about his individual performance in relation to the team’s. I no longer have the exact quote written down, but I know I’ve got it at least 95% right — I wouldn’t forget an answer like this.
“I did my job,” Quinn said. “I thought I could’ve had six assists.”
It was — and still is — the cockiest answer I’ve ever heard. He was also absolutely right. My game notes reflect at least three or four scoring chances he created, including a late shot that could’ve sent it to overtime.
That answer, to me, sums up Quinn in a nutshell. He knows exactly how good he is and what he can do on the ice, and he’s not afraid to make it known.
The New York Thing
Michigan played Penn State at Madison Square Garden in late January 2019. Of course, the four of us who covered the team wanted to go, so we decided to rent a minivan and drive 10+ hours across the country. Most of that trip is a story for another day, but all of it was unforgettable.
In the game, Quinn had at least two turnovers that directly led to Penn State goals. Penn State ended up winning, 5-2, after Michigan had beat them 5-1 in the previous game of the series. In short, it wasn’t pretty.
“Quinn’s an elite player,” Michigan coach Mel Pearson said that night. “You can tell he makes things happen. I just thought he had a tough night as far as a couple of his turnovers. And he knows. He stood up in the locker room and took responsibility for them. It takes a lot to do that, and he did. He’s going to win us a lot of games and he’s going to be a great player here at Michigan going forward. It’s just, you’re going to have tough nights. As long as you play this game and you’re a hockey player, you’re going to have some nights that are hard and it's one of those nights for him.”
A couple weeks later, after Quinn had a string of good games, I thought I’d sit down with him to talk about how he bounced back from the game in New York and got back to his usual self.
I talked to Pearson first, and he mentioned that he’s seen players come back really tired from World Juniors and take time to get a second wind.
“I’ve seen guys come back from the World Junior tournament and they’re just exhausted,” Pearson said. “Mentally, sometimes physically, sometimes both. I’ve seen a lot of guys come back and really struggle. Sometimes it’s for a long period, sometimes it’s for the whole second half, sometimes it’s just a few games. I don’t want to say that was an issue, but it can be. I think Quinn’s getting his second wind and all the way back into it now and gonna make a good push.”
I thought that was interesting, so I asked Quinn about it.
Here’s a transcription of what happened next:
Me: Mel mentioned he’s seen guys come back from World Juniors pretty tired and take some time to get a second wind and get back into things.
Quinn: Is that what he said? I’m getting my second wind now?
Me: That’s what he said, yeah.
Quinn: Second wind? Like, I wanna play now?
Me: Like you’re more ready, maybe not tired anymore.
Quinn: I was never tired coming off of World Juniors. I was ready to go. I think mentally it’s a little hard because you’re coming from a huge stage down to like a lower stage. Like, that’s just what it is. I guess that’s the only hard part. But right when I came back, we played Ohio State and I thought I was really good both games there. And then the following weekend, who did we have?
Me: Penn State.
Quinn: It was Ohio State, off week and then Penn State? I thought I was really good Ohio State weekend. I thought I was really good the first night against Penn State and then I thought I had a bad game against Penn State and then I thought I’ve been really good the rest. There was never a second wind or anything like that. I think I’ve been really good. I don’t know if anyone’s used to me having a bad game, so that’s what I think he was explaining.
Without a doubt, I could’ve presented Pearson’s comments in a better way with more context. However, Quinn’s reaction and comments offer such a fascinating look at who he is beyond the laid-back persona he often shows the media.
He was clearly upset by the suggestion that he was tired when he got back from World Juniors — a tournament in which the United States lost the gold medal game with just 1:26 left. His true feelings about still being in college also popped up in reference to it being a lower stage than he’d been on at World Juniors.
In every word, the competitiveness and intense belief in himself was clear. Quinn knew he’d been playing well outside that one game, and he wanted to make it clear to everyone else, too. It ended up a very different story than the one I thought I’d write, but it was one of my favorite stories I wrote that season.
It’s also one of my clearest memories and favorite stories from covering Quinn. He gave me a glimpse — perhaps unintentionally — of who he is, completely unfiltered. It was uncomfortable in the moment, but I know I won’t forget it.
The last weekend
Quinn blocked a shot with his foot late in Michigan’s Friday night loss to Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. He didn’t come back to the bench for overtime, and after the game, we were given the update that he was questionable for Saturday’s game.
I promptly tweeted it out, and I have never had more crazed NHL fans in my Twitter mentions than I did that night. Canucks Twitter was on fire with the news that their star prospect was injured. The next night, Quinn dressed for the game but Michigan chose to dress seven defensemen in case Quinn couldn’t play his usual minutes.
Michigan ended up losing for a variety of reasons, none of which really had anything to do with the injury. While we were waiting outside the locker room for interviews, Quinn walked out and offered a slight wave in my direction. Not that it had been in question beforehand, but I knew he was done in college.
The next day, Michigan flew home and landed in Ann Arbor around 3pm. By 6:30, he’d signed with the Canucks.
I had the breaking news story ready to go for the Daily. I’d had it written for a month.
Not many college hockey beat writers get to cover a first-round draft pick, and I know how lucky I am that I got to see Quinn for a year. It was a crazy year, but Quinn’s individual skill was almost always a bright spot amongst Michigan’s middling performance as a team.
A final (unconfirmed) story
On a November flight to Penn State, another Daily writer witnessed Quinn dip his turkey sandwich in his cup of coffee before takeoff. I still have the initial text I received about that moment, but neither of the two writers who were on that flight can 100% confirm that it happened. Take it with a grain of salt, but I believe it happened. Just seems like the kind of thing he’d do.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Fresh Ice! As the college hockey season (hopefully) gets going, I’ll be publishing content on a weekly basis about both Michigan and college hockey as a whole. If there’s something you’d like to see covered here, please reach out! My Twitter DMs are open or I’m available via email.
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