Jackie and Quinn Cozens aren’t a nod to the Hughes brothers
Jackie and Quinn Cozens weren’t named for the NHL darlings. The truth ties back to Buffalo’s ill-fated Kid Line — and it cuts deeper.
Everybody wants to see Jack and Quinn Hughes team up at some point in their NHL careers. And, next to Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, they’re the most popular siblings playing in the league.
Jack’s the ever-entertaining winger and scoring machine while Quinn’s a threat to win the Norris Trophy (which rewards the NHL’s best defenseman) each year. And if you know me, you’ll also know I’m a hockey writer by trade who puts his more controversial takes on this author blog.
That said, it’s a fine guess that I named Jackie and Quinn Cozens after the Hughes’. But, in reality, I named them after Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens.
The NHL’s most entertaining line that never was
In 2022-23, the Buffalo Sabres damn-near broke the league’s longest playoff drought, losing the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference by a point. As a Sabres fan, it was disheartening, but we had a lot of hope going into 2023-24, with what we called the Kid Line, leading the charge.
That line included Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens, and JJ Peterka. And, not long before I wrote the first drafts of the Beyond the Lost Trilogy, every fan rooting for the Blue and Gold wanted to see what this trio had in store the following year.
Unfortunately, Jack Quinn tore his Achilles and missed six months. Dylan Cozens, who enjoyed a career year in 2022-23, saw his production drop. Only Peterka leveled up, and set the stage for a brilliant 2024-25 campaign.
When 2024-25 rolled around, Quinn’s production tanked, while Cozens never regained form and the Sabres traded him to the Ottawa Senators. Peterka enjoyed another awesome season, but in the summer of 2025, Buffalo traded him to the newly-christened Utah Mammoth.
The damage was done
Sometimes, I’ll change characters’ names, but after writing over 200,000 words of content, I was like, “Nope, we’re not changing anything. Jackie and Quinn are Jackie and Quinn, and everyone’s gonna think it’s a nod to the Hughes brothers.”
Even more, Jackie and Quinn are estranged siblings, something you’ll catch in Beyond the Lost Horizon. As for the Hughes brothers? Not estranged, and that’ll never be the case. But they seem happy playing for different teams as I write this.
Still, at least Jack can say he’s played for the same team as his other brother, Luke. And Luke ain’t a half-bad player, himself.
That said, player movement in the NHL proves voluntary bonds get tested. Jackie and Quinn are no different — except theirs could break for good.
You can catch a clue of what led to their falling out in Horizon, a 37,000-word quickie depicting Quinn Cozens’ and Yui Kikuchi’s first days on the run in post-apocalyptic America. Check it out now.
