Three American Olympic hockey champions brought their gold medal celebration to late-night television this week, appearing on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show following their triumphant return from Milan.
Veterans Hilary Knight and brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes took the stage Monday evening, just two days after their memorable Saturday Night Live appearance alongside women’s goal scorer Megan Keller.
Fallon ribbed Jack Hughes about losing a tooth during the championship match before netting the decisive overtime goal, while celebrating Knight’s achievement in capturing gold at her fifth Olympic Games.
When Fallon questioned which experience created more anxiety – competing in the Olympics or performing on SNL – Knight didn’t hesitate with her answer: “SNL.” The host also highlighted how Knight declared her Olympic hockey dreams to her mother when she was just five years old.
“I’m just dialed like that,” Knight explained. “We didn’t even have women’s hockey in the Olympics at the time. I just must have seen it on TV and was like: ‘That’s what I’m doing. I want to play hockey.’”
The show featured Fallon reading aloud from a personal letter Jack Hughes had written before becoming the top selection in the 2019 NHL draft, which included these prophetic words: “Maybe we all represented the United States at the Olympics. Maybe we won a gold medal or gold medals together. What an honor that would be.”
The three athletes shared a fist bump as the studio crowd, including youngest Hughes brother Luke, burst into applause.
The Hughes siblings shared amusing stories about rooming together in the Olympic village and their exchange following Jack’s injury during the gold medal contest against Canada, when Sam Bennett’s high stick caught him in the mouth.
“Quinn, he was the first guy closest to me, and I remember him coming up to me at the TV timeout, and he was like: ‘It’s not that bad. it’s only chipped,’” Jack Hughes recalled. “That was like four minutes left in the game, like when we were serious trying to win this thing and he came up and said that.”
Despite the cinematic ending of losing a tooth and scoring the championship-winning goal, Jack Hughes assured Fallon the gap-toothed smile “won’t be my thing.”
“That is the most hockey thing I could even think of ever happening in the world,” Fallon responded.
The host also discussed Knight’s fairytale experience in Milan, including her engagement to American speedskater Brittany Bowe, who attended the taping. Fallon questioned her decision to propose on a metal grate rather than on nearby grass and asked whether she feared losing the ring.
“Almost,” Knight admitted. “I like high-pressure situations, I guess.”
At 36, Knight secured her second Olympic gold in what she’s announced will be her final appearance on the world’s premier international sports stage. She accomplished this feat while battling a torn medial collateral ligament in her knee, an injury she disclosed earlier Monday during a CBS Mornings interview.
“I’m not walking around the best, and I’m missing a few games for the (PWHL’s) Seattle Torrent,” Knight shared on CBS. “To be able to play through injury was definitely a mental sort of gymnastic challenge for myself and also physical, but we’ve got some amazing support staff that did their best to get me out there and perform at my best — as best as I could.”
Knight scored the equalizing goal against Canada with slightly more than two minutes remaining in regulation time. Following their return, Knight, teammate Kendall Coye Schofield, and Canada’s Erin Ambrose were all placed on long-term injured reserve by their respective PWHL clubs as the season resumed.
