A sea of boos greeted Quinn Hughes as he stepped onto the ice for warmups on Sunday night at Rogers Arena, and that hostility was with him throughout the game. Hughes let his game do the talking in his first visit to Vancouver since the December trade that sent him to the Minnesota Wild. He answered with a goal and an assist to help Minnesota seal a 4-2 win over his former team.

The hostility from the stands was absolutely relentless, yet Hughes took it all in stride along with a perfect offensive output. When asked about the atmosphere after the game, Hughes was perfectly reasonable in his assessment of it.

“The passion with the fan base is what makes it special to play here,” the ex-Canucks captain said. “So for me, it was cool to be back here, and exciting. And I’m glad we got the win.”

The crowd was on Hughes at every opportunity, booing him during the pregame warmups. While the video board announcer introduced him, a barrage of boos was heard. During the game, the crowd whistled him brutally every time he touched the puck. There were also a number of fans with signs, one of whom had a poster which read “And I thought I had commitment issues”.

However, Hughes responded with a relentless pace and precision on the offensive end. Midway through the second period, he put it past the goaltender to make it 3-0 for Minnesota. That goal marked the 500th regular-season point of his NHL career.

Early in the third period, he provided an assist to Kirill Kaprizov for his league-leading 13th goal of the season, extending the lead to 4-0. Through 13 games this season, Hughes has recorded 3 goals and 13 assists, proving he is still very much a part of the elite group on the Minnesota blue line with locker room backing.

Former Teammate’s Support Amid Conflicted Tributes

The wave of jeers gradually broke up into a very mixed reaction throughout the arena. There were pockets of applause, loud whistles and standing ovations battling it out with the residual boos. A very clear indication of the range of emotions that the departing star of the defense was generating. The same was seen in the locker room as well.

Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn acknowledged both the crowd’s reaction and Hughes’ commanding performance after the final whistle.

“He was pretty dominant again tonight, especially the second half of the game. So, obviously they’re booing him, but at the end of the day I think everyone is proud that he was once a Canuck,” Schenn said and went on to defend Hughes’ standing in the organization. “He definitely deserved the cheers. I don’t know if there’s really much reason to be negative as far as what he’s done for the organization.”

The ongoing fan resentment is rooted in the circumstances of the trade that took place during the 2025-26 campaign. After then-GM Patrik Allvin made it clear that defenceman Hughes wasn’t going to be able to sign a long-term deal upon the expiry of his 6-year, $47.1M contract.

Vancouver traded him and, in return, they got Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, and defenceman Zeev Buium along with Minnesota’s 1st-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

While in Vancouver, Hughes delivered the franchise’s very best modern individual award in the form of the Norris Trophy in 2024 as the league’s top defenceman, also leading the Canucks to a Pacific Division title and their first playoff berth since 2020. His goal on Sunday also gave him a significant place in league history as he became the second quickest American defenceman to reach 500 career points (520 games), behind only Brian Leetch (496 games).

Hughes ultimately laid down the terms of his return to Vancouver. He turned what would have been a very bad night into a personal milestone night for him, picking up two key points for Minnesota. He left Rogers with a win and his status as one of the elite defensemen in the league unquestioned.