The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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an NHL opportunity but simply be- cause of frustration early in their college careers — and it would not have been a surprise to those out- side the program if Hyman joined that list. He says he never considered leav- ing, though, and his patience and perseverance are now paying off. "Zach has been a great example of what college hockey can do for a player," said Trainor, who appeared in 132 games for the Wolverines from 1998-2001. "Zach was a very highly recruited player. He had a bazillion points in juniors. His class was replacing the Carl Hagelin class, and you were losing a lot of fire- power with Matt Rust, Louie Capo- russo and Carl Hagelin, and I think Zach, rightly or wrongly, was maybe expected to come in and score right away, and that didn't happen for him. "Fairly or unfairly, he probably put a lot of expectations on himself and for whatever reason, he didn't pan out offensively at first, but he figured out that if he was going to contribute to the team he needed to find and embrace a role, and he did that. "He was really a Travis Lynch- type player his freshman and sophomore year, and every year he seemed to gain more confidence, more strength, more speed, and this year he is reaping the fruits of the first three years of hard work." In 2008, Kevin Porter won the Hobey Baker Award because he ranked second nationally in points (63), points per game (1.47) and goals (33), but probably more so be- cause he captained a team with 12 freshmen and five sophomores to a 28-4-4 regular-season record, CCHA regular-season and tournament ti- tles, an NCAA East Regional victory and a spot in the Frozen Four. Since Porter 's departure, Michi- gan has had, arguably, only one player — Hagelin in 2011 (U-M lost in the national championship game that season) — with the ability to raise the play of those around him. In addition to being the team's top goal scorer, Hyman had 21 assists and was first among all Wolverines with a plus/minus of plus-18 as of Feb. 16. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL