Zach Hyman didn’t travel with the Edmonton Oilers when they went to Dallas to eliminate the Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference final, but he got to celebrate the win with the team.
After suffering an injury in Game 4 from a hit by Stars left winger Mason Marchment, Hyman watched from afar.
“It was the day after my surgery – I was sitting on my couch with my wife and mother-in-law just watching,” Hyman told reporters on Wednesday before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
As Oilers players wore their 2025 Western Conference champions hats in the dressing room, the team got on a FaceTime call with Hyman to say they miss him and can’t wait to see him back in Edmonton.
Hyman said he didn’t expect the call, but it meant the world to him.
“It caught me off guard,” Hyman said. “Honestly, I was crying. It was really emotional, to feel so much a part of the team, and for them to do that in that moment, it meant a lot.
“I’m going to be with the team the whole way acting like I’m playing, but obviously not.”
Hyman won’t play in the final. He gave more details about what happened.
“I just felt my wrist kind of go on me, and even then you still think, whatever it is, you’ll be able to play through it or there’ll be a chance you can play through it,” he said.
“The wrist was dislocated, so a lot goes into that, the ligaments, breaks, whatever else,” Hyman added. “I don’t want to get into too much of the nitty gritty, but I should be back for the start of next year, but I don’t want to put a timetable on it. They’ll be rehab involved.”
Hyman, 32, had five goals and six assists for 11 points in his 15 playoff games. He had two goals and an assist in Game 3 against the Stars to help Edmonton take the series lead. He also had 27 goals and 44 points in 73 regular-season games.
“Missing him is big,” Oilers center Adam Henrique told reporters. “He’s a huge piece of this team. His physicality. His net-front presence. In the locker room. All those types of things.”
As Game 1 gets underway in Edmonton at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the Oilers will look to win one more game than last year, when they lost in seven games to the Florida Panthers. Hyman will travel with the team to every game.
“He’s a great person, and we’re going to miss him on the ice,” Henrique said. “But he’ll be there. And we’re certainly going to fight for him on the ice.”
– With files from Avry Lewis-McDougall
Get the
latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
the article on THN.com.
Read the full article here
