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MN Wild Olympic Star Adds SNL and Tonight Show to Insane Schedule
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- MN Wild Olympic Star Adds SNL and Tonight Show to Insane Schedule
James Lang-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Wild won their first game out of the NHL Olympic break on Thursday night and it was a big one. Not only are the Colorado Avalanche a division rival, they are also the only team in the league with more points (85) banked than our Wild, who climbed two points closer last night to 80.
Beating the unquestioned No. 1 team in the NHL on their home ice is impressive enough. But the MN Wild did it on a night where three of their four best players barely made the team flight from Minneapolis because they were out partying on a three-day celebratory Gold Medal bender.
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So now, it would make sense that Quinn Hughes , Matt Boldy and Brock Faber would be focused solely on recovering physically and mentally so they can properly push through the final 24 games of the season .
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MN Wild superstar set to appear on SNL
But when you win the first men's Olympic hockey Gold since 1980, life isn't that simple. And according to Michael Russo (The Athletic) , this coming weekend will be even more hectic for Minnesota's Olympic hero than the Team USA party tour he participated in earlier in the week — which started in Milan, hit Miami and finished at the White House .
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Not only did the Minnesota Wild return to play last night , they will suit up again Friday in Salt Lake City, against the Utah Mammoth . From there, Hughes will fly back to MSP with the team, before he takes off later from the same airport for New York City, where he is now scheduled to guest star on Saturday Night Live that night.
Fresh off winning a gold medal in Milan at the Olympics, scoring in overtime to beat Sweden, leading the United States in scoring with eight points and having a point in all six games he played, the superstar defenseman will not only appear on "Saturday Night Live" on Saturday night…
Hughes' initial visit to the Big Apple on Saturday won't last long. The MN Wild play a home game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night so the Wild's superstar defenseman will catch a flight back into MSP immediately after his SNL appearance, so he can skate another 25+ minutes back in St. Paul about 18 hours later.
Quinn Hughes also doing Tonight Show
But that's far from the end of Quinn's itinerary over the next handful of days. Because per Russo, between the Wild's home games on Sunday (vs STL) and Tuesday (vs TB), he will fly back to New York again so he can appear on Monday's episode of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
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One source is telling Russo it's possible Quinn's Golden Goal scoring hero brother, Jack, may join him on both Saturday Night Live and the Tonight Show, if he can make it work schedule-wise.
Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin confirmed…that Hughes will fly to New York on Saturday for his 11:30 p.m. "Saturday Night Live" appearance at NBC studios and then return to New York on Monday for an afternoon taping of Fallon's show. After each production, he will fly back to Minnesota to play the St. Louis Blues on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. CT.
What's more, according to a league source, Hughes' younger brother Jack Hughes, who scored the "Golden Goal" to beat Canada in the gold medal game, will appear on "The Tonight Show" with Quinn on Monday and may even be on "Saturday Night Live" if the Devils can return to New Jersey in time after playing the Blues on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.
Related: MN Wild Patiently Waiting to Unite Hughes Brothers?
Russo wasn't able to confirm whether or not any Team USA teammates will be meeting Hughes in New York either Saturday or Monday, for his late-night appearances on NBC.
On the season, the Minnesota Wild / Vancouver Canucks has compiled a total of 5 goals and 53 assists. He's been on the ice for 106 total goals this season — good for seventh-most in the league.
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Since coming to the MN Wild via trade back in December, the 26-year-old defenseman has scored 3 goals and assisted on 32 more in 37 games played. Thursday night in Colorado, he extended his point streak to 11 games, which currently stands as the longest in the NHL.
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