Former Ontario Junior Hockey League star forward Zach Hyman scored his 50th goal of the season during his Edmonton Oilers’ 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators in Kanata Sunday night.
Hyman reached the milestone and gave the Oilers a two-goal advantage off a power-play redirection in the middle frame, notching the first 50-goal season of his career before the Senators came back to win.
“It was special,” Hyman said on nhl.com/oilers. “Leon (Draisaitl) was right next to me and I just saw the excitement on his face. He knows how hard it is to get there, and for him to be on the ice with Connor (McDavid) – two 50-goal scorers – and then I got to the bench. (Corey) Perry gave me a big hug and welcomed me to the club, too, which was just special.
“To have teammates that care that much about you, to share your milestones and your successes, it’s what the game’s all about. It’s a family in here. Everybody cares about each other.”
McDavid fired a low shot-pass to Hyman at the left post that the winger redirected over Ottawa netminder Joonas Korpisalo’s right pad before being immediately bear-hugged by Draisaitl, leading to plenty of congratulations on the ice and on the fly-by past the Oilers bench from his teammates for becoming the seventh Oilers player in franchise history to reach 50 goals in a season.
Those names are Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Glenn Anderson, Mark Messier and now – Zach Hyman.
“On the bench, I got goosebumps,” Oilers Head Coach Chris Knoblauch said. “I was so happy. It was nice to see a guy – a hard-working, honest guy – reach a milestone like that, and just how close the guys are and how happy they were for him.”
Zach speaks after scoring his 50th in Sunday’s loss to Ottawa
Hyman accumulated 242 over three seasons playing for the OJHL’s Hamilton Red Wings (now the Markham Royals) and was the captain of the club in his final term, the 2010-11 campaign where he recorded 102 points. Included in that total were three seven-point and three five-point games and 28 games in a row where he recorded at least one point. Zach was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2010 in the fifth round, 123rd overall.
Hyman won the Ontario Hockey Association’s B.J. Munro Memorial Trophy in 2011 as its top pro prospect as well as being named Canadian Junior A player of the year, two of the many awards he would win at the junior level.
The Toronto-born forward spent four seasons in the NCAA with the University of Michigan Wolverines, graduating after the 2014-15 season in which he was named to the NCAA first all-star team. He would begin his NHL career in 2015 for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Zach and his wife Alannah have two sons, Theo and Bennett.
Zach’s father, Stuart, is chairman of the OJHL’s board of governors and owner of the Markham franchise. One brother, Shane, was captain of the Royals this season. Another brother, Spencer is the Royals’ Assistant General Manager, Associate Coach and Head Scout.
The Oilers visit the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night.
-with files from the Edmonton Oilers
