Hughes credits his personality and his experience as a Paralympian to his attitude towards his opportunity with the Sting.

Initially, it was a steep learning curve when they tasked him with keeping track of players' time on ice for 68 games. He was fortunate that, despite his challenges, they asked him to travel with the team on the road. Luckily for him, the Sting used a kneeling bus, and very limited accommodations were required for him to travel. “Wheelz”, as they affectionately call him, was designated the first three rows of the bus, but because they wanted to include him, they were flying by the seat of their pants to accommodate, but included Hughes in every process to resolution.

"Luckily, we had a bus that would already kneel. I was able to get onto the bus quite easily because the step wasn’t very high. So they decided that we'd put Wheelz in the first three rows so he wouldn’t have to go further back. At least they made it so I didn’t have to go further back.”

Now entering his sixteenth season this coming fall during the 2023-2024 season, Hughes's role has evolved to where he works with college interns and the online scoring system, where he adds live stats so that people who are tuning in from home can see things as they happen.

Hughes points out that although the job has provided him with so many great opportunities, the biggest challenge to his role is the lack of arena accessibility, which includes other arenas across the province.

If Hughes was on the road and unable to fulfill the role he was hired to do, he would evolve and adapt by doing something else constructive to help the team succeed. He credits his ability to adapt to situations on the job in part to what he learned at Lambton, whether it be software or hardware that many organizations use in the league. 

During his time in Sarnia, Hughes, who is as humble as they come, remarks that the best part of his job is watching the success of the players. Whether they move on to the National Hockey League, use their education package to further their hockey career, or play in Europe, the success of the players is what Hughes is proud to witness and be a part of.

He values the relationships he’s developed and is always excited when a former player reaches out to him, sees him at the rink or in public, and acknowledges him.

Hughes, who doesn’t believe he should be defined by his disability or the challenges that can come with it, has been with the organization through three coaching changes, two changes in equipment managers, two changes in their athletic therapy department, and a major ownership group change that includes former NHLers Derian Hatcher and David Legwand.

He’s proud of the fact that no matter who has been part of the organization, the theme that continuously comes up is family. He knows that they have his back, not just because he works hard and it shows, but because of the culture of the organization.

“The fact that I still text some of these guys to this day makes it obvious that I’ve had an impact on them too. Bringing back some of those memories. When the new ownership came in, it included NHL veteran Derian Hatcher, and when you look at him initially, he looks like a pretty intimidating body. It was a little intimidating talking to him at first, but once I got to know him, it was just like family. But that’s what we are, a family."