Zach Hyman grew up in Toronto, is a graduate of the Greater Toronto Hockey League and should be playing in next week’s NHL all-star game at Scotiabank Arena.
And what an honour that would have been for a kid who almost no one saw becoming an NHL difference-maker.
But unless something changes quickly — an injury, a no-show, an unlikely circumstance — Hyman will not get the invitation to be part of an event that means so much to him and to his family as well.
Now with 30 goals, Hyman ranked sixth in the NHL in that department heading into Saturday night’s games, behind only Auston Matthews, Sam Reinhart, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan McKinnon and David Pastrnak. That’s three MVP candidates ahead of Hyman in scoring.
Third among all Canadians, he is scoring at a 56-goal pace and has more points than 15 of the all-star forwards who will represent their teams next weekend in Toronto.
When you play alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton, it’s easy to get overlooked. But when you play with the exuberance of Hyman, with the consistency and the leadership, you have to know this invitation was not only deserved, but really, was necessary.
There are other Toronto-area kids coming home for all-star weekend. Tom Wilson began his minor hockey at North Toronto. McDavid grew up outside the city as did Kings goaltender Cam Talbot. Mitch Marner grew up in the suburbs.
Hyman admitted by text that he would have loved to have gotten an all-star invite. He said it would have been “a cool moment” for him and for his family. He said it’s “highly unlikely” to happen now with less than a week to go before the festivities begin.
It’s too bad, really, that he got passed over. This year, in this place, it was more than deserving.
THIS AND THAT
Two more GTHL grads playing in the all-star game: Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, the American brothers who spent part of their minor hockey days playing in Toronto when their dad, Jimmy, worked in player development for the Maple Leafs … Take this for what you will: Before William Nylander signed his $92-million contract with the Leafs, he was scoring at 120-point pace this season. Since signing, he’s on a 64-point pace. Before signing, he was scoring at a 46-goal pace. Since signing, he’s scoring at an 18-goal pace … Who would have thought this was possible? But it’s hard to watch Alexander Ovechkin play with the Washington Capitals. He’s scored one goal in January, two in December, three in November, two in October. He has three power-play goals this season and two empty-netters. Hard to watch him get old while Sidney Crosby is still playing like Sidney Crosby … Brad Treliving’s big signings — Tyler Bertuzzi, John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves — have not exactly worked out this season for the Leafs, but his small signings — Martin Jones, Simon Benoit and Noah Gregor — have made the team better. And somewhere in between swing and miss, there’s Max Domi, in the middle, which is where he’s played his best as a Leaf … This is what will never happen in Toronto or a lot of places but works in Boston: The line with Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and James van Riemsdyk is dominating for the Bruins. In Boston, the uniform always matters more than those who are wearing it … The better the Leafs play in the second half of the schedule, the more chance they’ll play the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. And that’s not a good matchup for them. But if they end up in a wild-card position, they may play Boston, the Rangers or the Carolina Hurricanes as a first-round opponent. Being lower in the standings may mean a better playoff opportunity for Toronto.
HEAR AND THERE
Former Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin interviewed 14 times for NBA head-coaching jobs before finally getting hired by the Milwaukee Bucks last summer. And now he’s out, with a .698 winning percentage after just 43 games and a 30-13 won-lost record. This is what happens when the superstar, in this case, Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t want you any longer. Giannis didn’t want Nick Nurse coaching the Bucks last summer but he signed off on the hiring of Griffin. Just not for long. Strange world, the NBA. Doc Rivers, fired in Philadelphia and replaced by Nurse, is now the new head coach of the Bucks, primarily because Giannis didn’t want Nurse at first and then Griffin after that. None of this looks good on the normally squeaky-clean Giannis right about now … And who knows when Griffin will get another opportunity? … If the Raptors couldn’t win much with Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Scottie Barnes as their top threesome, how are they expected to win much with Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley as their new top three … The weekly OG update: The Knicks are 11-2 since acquiring Anuboby … Siakam lost his first three games in Indiana, but put up big numbers, scoring 57 points, in recent wins over Phoenix and Philadelphia … Can anyone explain the crazy over-the-top scoring of late in the NBA? Luka Doncic dropped 73 points in a game, Joel Embiid had 70 and Devon Booker 62 points all in the space of a few nights … Players on the struggling Miami Heat were not happy to see Kyle Lowry go. Bam Adebayo called Lowry “one of my favourite teammates, if not my favourite teammate.” And Tyler Herro said almost the same thing … Former CFL star Kerry Joseph is the new quarterback coach of the Chicago Bears. Next question: Who will be the next quarterback of the Bears? … Keith Pelley doesn’t begin his job as CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment until April 1 — which is basically nearing the end of the Leafs and Raptors seasons.
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SCENE AND HEARD
Imagine what Carlos Delgado’s statistics would have been had he played his entire career at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado. Todd Helton played two more seasons than Delgado, hit 104 fewer home runs and had fewer RBIs. Helton hit 227 home runs at home, 142 on the road. In Delgado’s career, he hit 242 at home, 231 on the road. He didn’t get that Colorado air in Toronto or New York. Delgado didn’t make it past his first Hall of Fame ballot. Helton was elected this week. And on what planet was he a more productive player than the overlooked Delgado, who retired 27 home runs away from 500? … If batting titles are not supposed to matter any more — and that’s what the stats people tell you — then how is it that Joe Mauer was a first-ballot Hall of Famer? He was a decent catcher without any power — 143 career home runs — who won three batting titles in his first six big league seasons. If Mauer is in with 143 homers, 923 RBIs, 2,123 career hits and three Gold Gloves for the Minnesota Twins, shouldn’t Don Mattingly be in, as well? Mattingly hit more home runs than Mauer, more RBIs, and hit for a higher career batting average. He also won nine Gold Gloves- … Mauer is the third first-ballot Hall of Famer among catchers and it doesn’t seem right. Johnny Bench was first. That was easy. Ivan Rodriguez was second. But Yogi Berra wasn’t a first-ballot selection. Neither were Carlton Fisk or Gary Carter … What bothers me most about the Hall of Fame — aside from the obvious annual challenge of what to do with the steroid offenders — is why defence is so neglected by the voters. Nobody played centre field better than Devon White and he never got a sniff as a Hall of Fame candidate. The best defensive outfielders on this year’s ballot — Andruw Jones and Torii Hunter — are a long way to election. Omar Vizquel, who won 11 Gold Gloves at shortstop over 20-plus seasons — only Ozzie Smith won more — is nowhere near getting elected and unfortunately there are more reasons why that is. Jones, Hunter and Vizquel played nine innings of defence every night during fabulous careers. The closer, Billy Wagner, who was limited to one inning whenever he pitched, was five votes short of election and certain to get in next year. Not sure how you can compare a closer — a one-inning specialist — to an all-time great defender? … Roberto Alomar has the most Gold Gloves for second basemen in big-league history, with 10. Alomar and White played five years together with the Jays and they combined to win 10 Gold Gloves in those years. It’s easy to forget over time how special they were … The more Bo Bichette talks about the Blue Jays, what they need to be and how they need to mature, the more I think the world of him.
AND ANOTHER THING
Paul Coffey has made a huge difference since taking over the defence of the Edmonton Oilers. The first 15 games of the season, the streaky Oilers gave up 55 goals. In their past 15 games, all of them wins, they’ve given up just 23 … So who saw this coming: Coffey, the second greatest offensive defence man in history, now teaching stay-at-home defence … I don’t understand why NFL teams have shied away from hiring Bill Belichick as their next head coach. For some reason, NFL teams are almost all obsessed with finding the next young superstar coach such as Kyle Shanahan or Matt LaFleur but just as often wind up with Arthur Smith or Brandon Staley. But if given the choice, I’ll take Belichick, thank you, especially on a team that already has a quarterback … The combined career earnings of the five players who could be the individuals accused of being part of the Team Canada sexual assault scandal of 2018 is just more than $33 million. It’s a privilege to play in the NHL, not a right. All of that money was earned after the seemingly involved players turned professional. Now we don’t know what their futures may be … Have to wonder how long GM Rob Blake will remain patient with the Los Angeles Kings. After a terrific start to the season, the Kings have won just two of their past 15 games and are on the verge of dropping out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference … The Argos will regret trading away Canadian receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. Quality Canadian offensive players are almost impossible to find … Does a football matchup get better than this? Patrick Mahomes versus Lamar Jackson, winner going to the Super Bowl … So Novak Djokovic is human. Who knew? … This is most unusual: Argos defensive back Quan’tez Stiggers won the CFL’s rookie of the year award after not playing any college football. Now he’s all but certain to be drafted by the NFL this year, after getting to chance in the Shrine Game, playing in a college all-star game after playing his first pro season … I wish George Parros had been a professor of mine in university. Does anyone mark easier than he does as the NHL’s director of player safety? Like, five games for Brendan Gallagher? Really? … My latest obsession: Loudermilk on Netflix. Highly recommended … Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be starting in his first NBA all-star game this year and is getting some MVP talk with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which is off to a 32-13 start. Gilgeous-Alexander is third in the NBA in scoring, behind only Embiid and Jokic. The Thunder hasn’t won a playoff round since 2016 or made the playoffs since 2020 … So 38-year-old Corey Perry is now an Oiler and 39-year-old Zach Parise is signing on in Colorado. Makes you wonder where, if anywhere, 36-year-old Phil Kessel is going? He was a healthy scratch for 18 of Vegas’ 22 playoff games last Stanley Cup season after putting up 36 points in the regular season. Parise had 34 points last season with the Islanders while Perry had five points in six playoff games with Tampa Bay … Scoring in the NHL this season: 2.93 goals per game per team. Scoring through the first 19 games of the Professional Women’s Hockey League: 2.37 goals per game, which is less than NHL numbers were in what was called the ‘dead puck era’ … New York’s Alex Carpenter leads the PWHL in scoring with eight points in seven games played … Happy birthday to Paul Henderson (81), Colin Campbell (71), Gregg Popovich (75), Billy (White Shoes) Johnson (72), Andre Iguodala (40), Stan Smyl (66), Carlo Colaiacovo (41), Terry Harper (84), Todd McCulloch (58), Gerry Gray (76), Ken Huckaby (53), Alan Alda (88) and Cris Collinsworth (65) … And, hey, whatever became of Andrei Markov?
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SIMMONS SAYS: Zach Hyman deserves to be coming home to play in the NHL all-star game - Toronto Sun
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