Hughes Brothers Relish Opportunity to Support Community Kids | FEATURE

From the moment the Hughes family joined the New Jersey Devils organization with the club selecting Jack as the first overall pick in 2019, immediately he became a fixture and a beacon for the future of the sport in New Jersey.

Jack sprung onto the scene and has developed into a superstar in the National Hockey League and one of the faces of the next generation of the New Jersey Devils. Spring forward a couple of years and Jack is joined by his younger brother Luke, a budding star in his own right, who is in the midst of a sensational rookie season.

Together the Hughes brothers are helping shepherd not only a new generation of Devils fandom but also inspiring a new generation of hockey players in the area. The Hughes brothers, in just their short time in New Jersey, have become part of the fabric of the sport in the area.

On Thursday night, Jack and Luke were honored at the second annual Playing It Forward Gala, there among 300 guests, being recognized for their work with Hockey In New Jersey as well as being announced as the first official ambassadors of Hockey in New Jersey.

For the brothers, it is all very much a part of who they are as human beings. They care about giving back and being involved.

“I’ve been looking for something to do in the community to put some time in and try to make a difference,” Jack said. “And, you know, this is such an easy thing, where it's my love for the game, and kids in Newark, and our community, where it just gives me a chance, and Luke a chance, to just grow the game a little bit and just show these kids that we're around, that they're out there working on their game and enjoying the game. It's just a common passion between all of us, no matter what your background is, and just a really special thing.”

The ambassadorship is a five-year commitment by the brothers as they embed themselves further into the community they play. Hockey in New Jersey supports thousands of inner-city children and giving them access to the game, learning to play, cost-free. The game of hockey can sometimes feel out of reach, but Jack and Luke, with their ambassadorship, hope to bring those who may not be well represented in the sport due to gender, race, ethnicity, disability or socioeconomic status closer to the game they love.

“It's great to just get involved early,” Luke shared, “It's just really cool to see kids and get to know them, and try to do our part in the community and grow the game in New Jersey. Just giving these kids an opportunity to meet us and see that their dreams can be realized, it’s pretty easy for us to get involved., I'm really lucky to get involved with that.”

Jack and Luke have worked with the organization before, having visited and skated with HNJ kids over the past few months together, and Jack for the past few years since he made the NHL. They used their free time to spend with the kids, helping make a positive impact on their lives, but they also knew they had more they wanted to offer.

That’s when the brothers approached the organization themselves.

“It happened very organically,” Richard A. Giuditta, who sits on the Board of Trustees for Hockey in New Jersey, shared of how the whole partnership came together, “They visited with Bauer, Jack met our kids (…) and he said he really want to get involved, ‘I want to do more down here. I love these kids. I love what you're doing.’ And a year later, he did just that and brought his little brother along with him. So we got two Hughes for the price of one.”

“What's impressed me the most about Jack and Luke is that they came to us and said, ‘We want to get more involved,’” Keith Veltre, HNJ’s Chief Executive Officer shared, “To me, that says something about their character, and who they are, and what their upbringing was all about. They want to give back more than just showing up for a picture, or a camera when everyone's watching. They come when people aren't watching. So, to be official ambassadors of ours, a five-year commitment that they're joining our organization, and helping to promote it, that's only going to benefit the thousands of kids we have in our program now, and the thousands that are going to come over the next five years.”

While their star power is significant to the program, there is another added element to Jack and Luke being involved that cannot be overlooked.

They are 20 and 22 years old.

Those in the community that HNJ support look up to the Hughes brothers as big brothers on top of being National Hockey League players. And that may be the most impactful part of what they are doing in connecting with these children.

“It’s amazing, because younger kids relate better to people that they view sort of generationally within their spectrum,” Veltre said, “And Jack and Luke connect with them. I mean, they're superstars, and they're adults, but yet they get down with the kids on the ice and they're asking them how their day was, and they’re relating to them because they know the experiences that they've had and in the kids in turn, are looking at them as mentors, and really figureheads to emulate in a positive way.”

The impact is mutual. Jack and Luke have a profound appreciation for what the game of hockey has given them in their lives and want to be able to share that with others.

"It's about things I believe in," Jack shared, "It's just easy to share my love for the game and being able to help out. (...) I'm enjoying, and I've really enjoyed the kids I've got to meet already throughout the years. Just meeting the kids and being on the ice with them… it's a really good program and thing for me to be a part of, just because it’s about things I believe in. Hockey is near and dear to me, and just the way to share the love for the game and being able to help out.”

The gala held on Thursday night officially launched the ambassadorship and held in front of a big audience. But for all the humanitarian work that gets publicized, the Hughes brothers have done immense work behind the scenes, away from the spotlight. That is something they cherish and is equally as important to them. They are authentic young men who firmly believe in giving back to those around them.

“It's just doing the little things,” Luke added to his brother’s thoughts, “not everything has to be on camera, that’s what we’re signing up to do. It’s about things like going to the rink and watch them practice, or maybe bring out skates and push pucks around. We can definitely do stuff in this organization that we really want to do and just help the kids out and any way that we can.”

“Our rink is in Newark, it's a lot of different backgrounds than where me and Luke grew up from, it’s just really special,” Jack said, “We can bring them to games and the Iron Bound arena is 10 minutes from our practice rink. So, even little things like just showing up on a Saturday once in a while, and just checking in and showing our faces. And I think over the years, with this partnership, we have some ideas, just a simple as something as bringing a teammate out after practice. There's so many things like that, where we could just help impact kid and put a smile on their face.”

Veltre adds that simply by virtue of having the Hughes brothers involved in their program, it can take the work that they have been doing for nearly the past two decades, to a whole new stratosphere. That is the power that the Hughes name has developed not only in New Jersey but across the National Hockey League.

"It creates more access for our kids," Guiditta noted, "This is a unique program where it's at no cost, the equipment, ice time, everything's at no cost. We want every Newark boy and girl and all the boys and girls in our other cities to know that this sport is for them. We're breaking barriers. And with Jack and Luke, I really think this is going to skyrocket."