NHL hockey player Quinn Hughes is known for two things: being an excellent defenseman… and being haunted by the ghost of a Victorian child.
The meme arose from his resting "haunted" expression, whether he is on the ice or on the bench with his teammates. Not only that, but the meme has followed him to Italy, where he joined the Team USA men's hockey team along with his younger brother, Jack. The lore of Quinn Hughes' haunting has now expanded to include Italian ghosts.
Quinn Hughes before the Haunting memes began
Hughes entered the spotlight long before the ghost jokes took hold. The NHL drafted him seventh overall in 2018, and he spent seven seasons on the Vancouver Canucks. Hughes is now a player for the Minnesota Wild. Internationally, he represented the United States at multiple World Junior Championships and debuted at the senior World Championship with a bronze medal.
Hockey also ran in his family. While his younger brothers Jack and Luke became top NHL draft picks, Hughes carved his own lane. His mother played for the U.S. women’s national team, and his father worked in NHL player development.
While he is a highly skilled hockey player, there is one thing that fans of the sport and of Hughes himself can agree on: the poor man looks like he is haunted by the ghost of a Victorian child.
This speculation turned into a meme over time, with its precise origins unknown, but it comes from the haunted expression that seems permanently affixed to his face whenever he has a moment to disassociate.
The "seeing ghosts" meme followed him all the way to Italy
Those ghosts seem to have followed him to the Winter Olympics, where the ghosts apparently changed passports. Some fans claimed Italian spirits joined the original Victorian child. Fans joked that it even seemed at one point like he tripped over a ghost on the ice.
It got to the point that Hughes found out about the meme, as he joked about it during an Olympic interview. After Team USA beat Germany to finish the group stage undefeated, he addressed his reputation. When asked about fitting into a loud, energetic roster, he leaned into it.
"Sometimes you hear some funny stuff out there, but yeah," he said. "As the people say, I'm usually seeing ghosts, so I'm usually focused on myself."
Quinn Hughes ghost haunting memes
Folks online can't get enough of the Quinn Hughes ghost memes. On Reddit, u/bloomingbluemel wrote, "Quinn Hughes still haunted and stressed after 3 US wins," to which u/ThisEnormousWoman replied, "Can't a guy have resting trauma face?"
"Because the ghost of a Victorian child still haunts him," u/an_asimovian joked, while u/Fortehlulz33 added, "Now it's a Victorian child and an Italian castrato."
Threads users joined in on the jokes as well. One post read, "Reporter: 'Quinn, what’s the plan for the next game?' Quinn Hughes: 'Haunt avoidance. Avoid the Victorian twins. Maybe score a goal if the spirits let me.'"
@jujubee595 added, "Why would they let Quinn Hughes go to an old, historic place like Italy? He’s going to bring back so many ghosts."
Even hockey-adjacent fandoms joined in. Fans folded Hughes and his spirits into Heated Rivalry fanfiction. As @kate.hawthorne admitted, "the Quinn Hughes talking to the ghosts who want him to matchmake Shane and Ilya is the absolute best thing I've ever read."
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