Hyman appreciation thread, the guy is playing a foot taller of late

[Phion Keneuf]

His offensive ability is definitely getting better. Still has stone hands, but a soft kind of stone. Like a type of clay.

 

[meefer]

His offensive ability is definitely getting better. Still has stone hands, but a soft kind of stone. Like a type of clay.

Thanks for the laugh

 

[authentic]

Nice to see him scoring lately. Hope he can keep it going into the playoffs.

 

[The Beyonder]

I think Mitch and JT are rubbing off on him. When you play with skilled creative players for so long you not only tend to pick a few things off of them but you also gain the confidence as well.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Hyman could hit 20 goals this year...

And they're the ugliest 20 you'll ever see.

Need him to step up in the playoffs. Grinding his is niche, and he needs to show some dominance in that regard in the playoffs.

 

[MattySnipes]

Hyman has been great. He's a model of consistency. He was one of our best players after Marner in the playoffs against the B's. Glad to have him.

 

[Rogue Leader]

How Toronto Maple Leafs star Zach Hyman found love in high school | TRNTO.com

The boy has been a beast!!! <3
Love you Hyman. And I am not Babcock!!!

 

[Rogue Leader]

Leafs winger Zach Hyman tied the knot this summer with his longtime girlfriend Alannah. We caught up with the couple in time for the NHL pre-season this month.
How they met

Alannah: We met in high school and became friends in Grade 10 when we sat next to each other in English class. It took a couple of years before we began to see each other as more than just friends. Since we were only 17 at the time, we both didn’t realize that either of us had a crush on each other until one day when I asked Zach to drop me off at my house after school, and he took me home even though I didn’t live close by and this detour would mess up his pre-game hockey schedule. We had our first kiss that day and truly never looked back.
The first date

Zach: Our first date was at an Italian restaurant called Piazzetta Trattoria back in 2010. I remember the night being perfect. We shared a pizza, spent the night chatting away and realized we had more in common than we thought. Alannah, on the other hand, remembers things differently. Apparently once we finished our pizza, she went to the bathroom and noticed some food stuck in her teeth and blamed me for not telling her about it earlier. She still bugs me about it and believes I saw it and didn’t tell her, but that didn’t stop her from saying yes when I asked her to be my girlfriend later that night.
The proposal

Zach: Well, it was originally supposed to happen at an intimate restaurant in New York City the weekend after our eight-year anniversary. However, my plans fell through when Alannah thought I had nothing special planned on Tuesday, the actual date of our anniversary. In reality, I had spent that day running around the city picking up her engagement ring and a scrapbook of photos I had made of us and had forgotten to pick up flowers on the way home. So I decided to propose right then and there in our apartment, which came as a surprise to both of us, but it ended up being a funny story and our family and friends came over after to celebrate.
The wedding

Alannah: We got married in June at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Our wedding was everything we wanted it to be — the perfect mix of a meaningful ceremony, beautiful speeches, great food and a really fun party. A couple of days later, we flew to the south of France and the Greek islands. It was amazing to get away just the two of us after a very busy couple of months and revel in that newlywed bliss. Although, to be honest, it feels like we’ve been married for years!
Shared hobbies

Zach: We love travelling, going to the movies, bingeing TV shows and playing old school video games like Mario Party, which gets pretty competitive. I got Alannah into Game of Thrones a couple of years after we started dating, and it became our favourite show. We became obsessed with it and we dressed up as Jaime and Cersei Lannister for Halloween one year. We are also big dog lovers. We both grew up with family dogs (sheep dogs and poodles) and are excited to get one of our own down the road!
Secret to success

Alannah: We’ve always supported each other and encouraged each other to follow our dreams. Throughout our relationship, we have had personal and professional goals that we strove toward. We’ve been together for close to 10 years, and there were times in our relationship where we were apart for extended periods of time, whether it was for hockey road trips, studying abroad or even late nights at the office. Having some independence has shaped us into who we are today and made us stronger as a couple since we truly appreciate the time that we do spend together.
Life after retirement

Zach: We definitely want to have a big family, two dogs and live in Toronto near where we grew up. I don’t think I’ll ever fully retire, but I’m sure we’ll both be following our passions and supporting our family.

 

[Pi]

Babcock's legacy with the Leafs is Hyman. He might be the one player who Babcock saw something in that the majority of us didn't at first.

Hyman is a guy who I thought was overpaid at 2.2M on a 4 year deal. Now I wish it was a longer term. He's one of my favorite players.

Always brings it every night. Smile on his face. Ready to forecheck like a beast. Block shots. Physical when the need arises.

Now he's also got a backhander like Sundin haha.

 

[saltming]

@Walshy7
Should I get a new hashtag? #50GOALhyman

 

[unitedstars87]

The Grindfather!!!

 

[Martin Skoula]

Hyman's first goal that he is able to lift up in close.. and it's a backhand?

 

[sittler rules!!!]

He's not only producing, but he's playing physical and relentless on the puck.

We are going to need this in the playoffs, we don't have enough of it.

OOOPS!!! Just posted a Zach appreciation thread before I saw this. Yes, he is the heart and soul of this club.

 

[Nooodles]

Now he's also got a backhander like Sundin haha.

Exactly what I thought when it happened!

He is really good this year and playing like this after coming back a tough, tough injury. Guy is a warrior...who writes children's books!

 

[Walshy7]

@Walshy7
Should I get a new hashtag? #50GOALhyman

on pace for 50.11 points over 82, don’t think he gets it this year due to not playing 82. So stick with your #50pointhyman hashtag.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Hyman has a major injury and comes back almost 100%.

Nylander sits on his hands until December and comes back 50%.

I know who I'm keeping on my playoff team.

 

[Al14]

Hyman has a major injury and comes back almost 100%.

Nylander sits on his hands until December and comes back 50%.

I know who I'm keeping on my playoff team.

Really, 50%? I wouldn't even give him the benefit of the doubt at 10%! He was putrid for the rest of last season.

 

[unitedstars87]

Hyman has a major injury and comes back almost 100%.

Nylander sits on his hands until December and comes back 50%.

I know who I'm keeping on my playoff team.

I remember exactly where Hyman got the injury in the playoffs he went down in pain behind the Bruins net and he wasn’t the same and that line went south after that. Hyman can frustrate us at times with his lack of hands but his reading of the game finding lanes to get to the net, tenacity and motor is elite. This is magnified in big games and this what us fans like in our players. Nylander leaves a lot to be desired on most nights. He’s still very young and likely looking for his gam, but has played a lot of games in the NHL now. Points aren’t bad for Willie and on par for contract this season, but points aren’t always everything.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

He's been incredible he's got 6 points in the last 2 games

 

[93LEAFS]

Tried telling people repeatedly in the summer. He isn't the 2016-17 player who shot below 5% at 5v5. Would I want Zach Hyman being the driving force of a line at 5v5? Absolutely not. Do I think he does a great job as the 3rd wheel grinding and just playing a simple game getting the puck to guys like Matthews, JT and Marner? Absolutely. I would think with some of the more heralded guys (Kapanen, and to a lesser extent Johnsson) people were begging to be played on Matthews or JT's left-wing and there struggles to make those lines more efficient than they are with Hyman would lead to a newfound appreciation for him. That doesn't make Kappy or Johnson bad players, I'd still trust them more as a driving force of a line than Hyman, but Hyman even prior to these 2 games that he is worthy of the spot he had. Seems Babs being gone and the struggles we had last year has finally brought a sensible opinion on him. If you look at his 5v5 production since 2017-2018, its quite impressive, regardless of who he is playing with.

 

[ruaware41]

Copy pasting my post from another thread in here because it's more relevant:

"For everyone saying Babcock was right about Hyman, I disagree, Hyman was never the player under Babcock that he is now.

You know what, full respect to Hyman. It would have been very easy and natural to pout after losing a coach who loves you and feeds you ice time. But he put his head down and got to work.

I think the skill development camps that the Leafs now host regularly since Keefe has taken over have helped Hyman as I've seen him try a few things I've never seen before.

An example last game was the forehand curl back drop which he did twice, and the backhand shot was also pretty insane.

His passing today was awesome as well. It's obvious they've encouraged him to express his more non truculent side on the ice and helped him in doing so, so that he can become more of an Oshie like player for the Leafs. As opposed to stuffing him in a box as a grinder where he feels too pressured to do anything but dump it in.."

Anyway did anyone feel like Marchand should have gotten a call from dops for f***ing ducking under a hit?? I'm pretty sure that's illegal and it's very obvious how that can lead to a torn ACL. It annoyed me how no one even talked about it at the time. It doesn't help that leaf players get up pretty quickly and go off unlike Mr Debrusk for example who puts on an opera.

I remember during the last Bruins Leafs game this season near the leafs bench Hyman kinda was shoving his head for a bit giving him shit. Probably saying something to the effect of "you ruined my offseason you piece of shit." Marchand didn't really argue back.

It annoyed me that Babs or any of the players never mentioned the incident. Whereas Bruins put on an entire demonstration when one of theirs goes down. I hope Keefe is more willing to stand up for his boys and defend them in the post game on those kinds of plays in a playoff series. In a regular season it doesn't help your team but in a 7 game series it surely does. Am I the only one that thought he should have been suspended?

 

[Gabriel426]

I think when the kids broke into the league a few yrs ago, people predict Auston can top 50 goals, Willie and Marner can both hit 30goals....but nobody Hyman can also improve from 15 goals to say 20-25goals. people just never give credit for mid tier players to improve their games

 

[Melo Meds]

14 points in 19 games for Zach. He’s been a force out there and has improved every line he’s been put out on. Hyman has been an animal considering he missed training camp and the first 20~ games of the season. Our PK has improved since his return as well.

 

[saltming]

I think when the kids broke into the league a few yrs ago, people predict Auston can top 50 goals, Willie and Marner can both hit 30goals....but nobody Hyman can also improve from 15 goals to say 20-25goals. people just never give credit for mid tier players to improve their games

I certainly did and there were a few others too.
#50pointhyman has been my thing from the 1st year and there are quite a few posters that might recall me defending and specifically saying "wait until the game slows down for him"
End of the day he is a good player to have and the job he does on the ice is only now being recognized because he seems to be putting up more points, but I like his game, his chaos factor, his spunk and his grit

 

[DarkKnight]

On of the biggest pluses with Babcock being canned, we can now look at players on their own merit, rather than obscured by coaching debates. Hyman isn’t anyone’s “son”, he’s a legit top nine forward who plays a very useful role on a scoring line. Hyman deserves every second he gets.