Veteran winger Zach Hyman isn’t available for the Oilers for the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to make an impact on the team. According to NHL.com reporter Jamie Umbach, Hyman continues to make a positive impact through his leadership, despite undergoing surgery to repair the wrist he dislocated in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final. Hyman said he’s staying around the team just as much as he would if he were playing.
“Life has a funny way of working. I truly felt that as a group, having gone through what we went through last year in that moment, that I knew most of our guys were coming back and that we had a hunger and a fire to get back to this point. I’m just looking forward to cheering the guys on, and I think we’re ready,” he said.
Hyman said he knew right away the wrist injury was serious after taking the hit, but he didn’t expect it to end his season. Initially, he believed he could play through the pain before team doctors ultimately shut him down.
“I think I was still a little delusional that I could play through it until after the surgery, obviously, and I was emotional in the moment. I don’t think you fully grasp it until a little bit later, and then you can get your head around it. Some things in life you can’t control, and this is one of them,” he said.
In other notes from the Stanley Cup Final:
- Panthers forward Jonah Gadjovich briefly exited Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers but later returned to the ice. Head coach Paul Maurice confirmed today that Gadjovich will be available moving forward, per Jameson Olive of NHL.com. The bottom-six forward skated just 6:02 of ice time in Game 1, but that’s not far off from his average during the playoffs of 7:40. Through 11 playoff games, he has recorded two goals and three points.
- Maurice also expressed support for defenseman Tomas Nosek following his overtime delay-of-game penalty in Game 1, which led to the Oilers’ game-winning goal, per Tim Capurso of Sports Illustrated. “We’re not here without Tomas Nosek. It’s a tough break. We make sure he doesn’t eat alone tonight, he has lots of people sitting at his table reminding him of how good he has been for us. It’s going to be tough. He’s going to eat that one for a day,” Maurice said.