Montreal hockey writer and analyst Andrew Berkshire recently sparked a fiery debate with his passionate four-minute rant about NHL forward Zach Hyman. Addressing a prevalent narrative surrounding Hyman's accomplishments, Berkshire delved into the complexities of success and the broader issues within the media industry.
Berkshire's frustration stemmed from what he perceived as a misleading portrayal of Hyman's NHL journey to scoring 50 goals at the age of 31.
While acknowledging Hyman's undeniable work ethic and achievement, Berkshire highlighted the crucial backstory often omitted from the narrative – Hyman's privileged upbringing and advantageous circumstances.
"... You're missing the part of the story where Zach Hyman grew up insanely rich, where his parents bought an entire league to guarantee him playing time, where he did exclusive training that only a rich person could perform or sorry, that only a rich person could afford with, you know, professional athletes, his whole life."
Reporter attributes Zach Hyman's success to playing with elite teammates
The crux of Berkshire's argument lies in challenging the oversimplified notion that hard work alone guarantees success.
In his post on X, Berkshire emphasized Hyman's access to exclusive resources. Berkshire also pointed out Hyman's fortunate career breaks, which included playing alongside elite talents like Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid.
"He's a 50 goal scorer in the right situation with the right line mates. Not everybody who is Zach Hyman's talent could fold himself into that. I'm not going to go into that role and execute it as well as Zach Hyman does. And he absolutely deserves credit for that. But let's not build this stupid narrative of, Work hard, you'll succeed."
Berkshire also cautioned against perpetuating a narrative that oversimplifies the formula for success. Berkshire urged the media industry to strive for greater authenticity and transparency in storytelling, and called for a more nuanced understanding of success of the Edmonton OIlers' forward beyond surface-level narratives.
"The story is if you have that stuff, and you have every possible opportunity, every possible lucky break, every possible financial consideration, then, maybe your hard work will get you to where Zach Hyman got. It's not about just working hard, and this is not just hockey, it's not just sports, this is everything."
