Michiganders Megan Keller, Jack and Quinn Hughes get big laughs on SNL
After a post-Olympics week that saw the U.S. men's hockey team honored at the White House and the State of the Union address (complete with Commerce native Connor Hellebuyck being promised the Presidential Medal of Freedom) and the women's team being promised a party in Las Vegas after a derogatory joke from President Trump …
Well, we probably should have expected some hockey jokes from "Saturday Night Live" on Saturday, Feb. 28, with "Heated Rivalry" star Connor Storrie hosting.
But an SNL monologue packed with golden Michiganders?
"Heated Rivalry," from HBO Max, is part sports drama, part romance, all viral, based off a novel by Rachel Reid about the rivals-to-lovers relationship of a pair of NHL stars. It's a bit spicy, but it's all about the hockey, right? Sure.
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Roughly 2½ minutes in, Storrie and the SNL crew brought out the brothers who starred in the U.S. men's gold-medal victory over Canada on last Sunday: Canton's Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal in OT (after suffering a chipped tooth during regulation), and younger brother Quinn Hughes (a Michigan alumnus who led all defensemen in scoring).
After some banter about the risque content, Storrie uttered a cue – "Oh, I hope some hockey players watched it" – to bring two equally accomplished U.S. hockey players onto the stage: Team USA women's captain Hilary Knight and golden-goal-scoring defender Megan Keller, of Farmington Hills.
After a 30-second ovation, Keller got the first punchline: "Don't worry, we saw your show."
"Oh, wow, Hilary, Megan, it's so cool that we're all here," Storrie responded, setting up another punchline from Knight.
Evan Bates: Gold, silver
The Ann Arbor native and Michigan alumnus just missed out on double golds due to an officiating controversy, but he still picked up gold in the team figure skating event and silver in ice dance with partner and wife, Madison Chock. He also received one of the top individual honors for an American, as he was voted by his peers to carry an American flag at the Closing Ceremony in Verona.
(Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters via Imagn Images)"It was gonna be just us, but we thought we'd invite the guys, too."
Keller then got some ribbing in too – literally – following up with the line, "Yeah, we thought we'd give them a little moment to shine," as she tossed an elbow at Quinn Hughes' ribs.
After Storrie welcomed the appearance of "actual hockey legends," and noted, "both of your team just won the gold," Hughes the Younger and Knight got to deliver the prime shots.
"Thanks, the last time the men did that was 46 years ago," Hughes said.
The response from Knight, to a huge ovation: "And the last time we did that was two whole Olympics ago."
You can watch the whole opening monologue here.
And if you're looking looking for more hockey talk from Knight and the Hughes Bros., they're slated to appear on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon " on Monday night at 11:35 p.m. ET on WDIV-TV (Ch. 4 in Detroit).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hilary Knight, Megan Keller get big hockey laughs on SNL
