Jack-Hughes-USA

Jack Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver on June 21-22, will write a monthly diary this season for NHL.com leading up to the draft. The 17-year-old forward, who is the brother of Vancouver Canucks defenseman prospect Quinn Hughes, the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is a center playing for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team this season. In his second entry, Hughes discusses his big game against his brother at the University of Michigan on Friday, and how his season is progressing with the NTDP.

Hi everyone. I hope you're all enjoying the start to the NHL season.
There were a lot of things going through my head this week as we prepared for the University of Michigan on Friday. Of course it's all about winning the game, but it'll be the first time I play against my brother, Quinn, in a competitive setting. I've never played against him in an actual game like this. It was either road and outdoor hockey when we've gone against each other.
I know it's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against him and his Michigan team, so it's going to be a blast. I'm going to enjoy every second of it. I hope Quinn plays a very good game but I hope we beat them too.
I don't think it's going to be strange going up against him, but for sure it'll be hard, because you ask anyone who has played against Quinn, and they're going to say he's so hard to play against. I'm not too worried what it's going to be like. I'm more worried about if I'm going to be able to walk (dangle) him or not.
Our under-18 team has five wins in six games and things are going well, but we do want to find ways to put more pucks in the net. In our 3-1 loss against Ferris State University on Oct. 6, we took 45 shots but only scored once. We had a couple big wins against Muskegon (6-3) and Sioux Falls (5-4 in overtime) at the United States Hockey League Festival in Pittsburgh last month, and those were solid wins.
I think I've had a pretty good start, with one goal and six assists, and I like where my game is at, but I can continue to get better. I know the points will continue to come. We're playing hard games so it's a good schedule for us. And in the end it'll show what we're made of and where we're at.
The thing is, there are many good players on this team so opposing clubs are going to play our team hard and give us everything they've got. I'm aware they're going to give me a game too, but there are a lot of pieces they'll have to worry about because we have a really good team.
Right now I'm centering Trevor Zegras (one goal, two assists) and Cole Caufield (three goals, three assists) and the chemistry has been great. Both guys are unbelievable players, so smart, so it's been fun playing with them and hopefully it continues.
Forward Matthew Boldy (five goals, four assists) leads our team in scoring after six games and he's playing well. Matt has had a good start to the year and it's no fluke with him being in a rhythm like this. It's kind of where his game is at right now and shows how good of a player he is. I think this will happen for a lot of guys on our team this year. Once they start scoring in bunches they're going to be tough to stop.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and check back next month.