EDMONTON — The surname Smith goes back to Anglo-Saxon times — the 5th century — meaning “one who works in metal.” Alas, it seems Mike Smith was destined for the pipes.
Surnames. They tell us nothing at times, everything at others.
Like when you begin to research the season that the NHL’s eldest No. 1 goalie is having, and the surnames that show up as comparables are names like Worsley, Hasek, Plante, Bower and Luongo. That is how well Smith — who turned 39 on Monday — is playing at this advanced age, carrying a .922 save percentage (seventh among NHL starters) into this two-game, first-place showdown between the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But enough about his game.
Fun Fact: More than 8,000 men — 7,297 skaters and 823 goalies — have played in the National Hockey League since its inception. Guess how many have shared the name Mike Smith?
The answer: Zero.
Seventy three NHLers surnamed Smith over the years. Only one of them a Mike — even though “Smith” has been the most popular last name in Canada for the past century, and “Michael” was the most popular name for boys in the 80s, when Smith was born.
Unique? Oh, he’s unique.
“I can tell you one thing about Shmitty,” said his head coach Dave Tippett, the one person who adds an ‘h’ into his goalie’s nickname. “I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I had him as a young player drafted in Dallas. There are maybe two or three guys that I would classify as the best athletes I’ve ever coached. He is one of them.”
“If he didn’t play hockey, he would have been a Major League Baseball player,” said old friend and mentor Marty Turco. “He was a tremendous (fastball) catcher. An all-star? A Hall of Famer? I don’t know, but he would have been a major-leaguer. That’s just a fact for me.”
Like that old Islander, Battlin’ Billy Smith, the Oilers netminder will bring his fiery persona into a big game on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, with a ridiculous level of confidence that has infused an Edmonton roster that needs a little help with looking like it expects to win.
“I know we’re not the youngest team anymore, but sadly we haven’t had that much experience at winning so far,” began Leon Draisaitl, a five-year-old tyke in Cologne when Smith was drafted in 2001. “It helps having guys who have done it before, who have gone on long runs and been on successful, good hockey teams. He just brings an upbeat, loud voice that guys listen to.
“Smitty brings a lot of swagger, a lot of experience to our table.”
Floyd Smith once said, “I have nothing to say and I’m only going to say it once.”
Yeah, that’s not Mike Smith’s thing.
Smith is six-foot-five, 220 pounds and can be as intimidating as you’d like. He’s got something to say, and if it doesn’t get heard he’ll say it again.
Like the time Turco was in the passenger seat of his Hummer H2, sitting in the driveway, and Smith had a few more words for him before Turco left. So he pulled Turco out for a chat — through the sun roof — “by the scruff of my neck,” recalls Turco.
In Smith, Turco found a protégé, after the gangly goalie arrived in Dallas as a fifth-round pick with most of four pro seasons completed.
“A little more raw on the refined skills, but just a fun-lovin’ guy who wanted to have success and play hard,” said Turco. “I saw a lot of talent and leadership qualities within him. I knew we had something special.”
He also has a head of hair that comes at you right out of 1983. A Kingston, Ont., native, Smith’s long, curly mane is more tragic than Hip.
“Always tried to get to do something more with his hair,” lamented Turco. “He looks great with short hair, but I think he thinks his ears are too big. I don’t.”
Photo via CP
Today, Smith — who married and raises four children with former Canadian national team skier Brigitte Acton — might just be the best puck-handling goalie in the game. That he was drafted by a team where Turco was the starter was pure fortune, as Turco was also a champ with the puck on his blade.
“We tried to tone him down on the ice in terms of playing the puck,” Turco said. “He could really throw it hard and far, but I tried to (impart) that playing the puck wasn’t just a skill, but it was part of the winning formula. We worked on it all the time, to integrate it within the team concepts. Slowly but surely, he figured it out.”
Like Steve Smith, any goalie who wanders as much as this one is not unfamiliar with own goals. But it is persistence that has bought Smith 15 NHL seasons, with no end in sight.
“One of my first games in Dallas, I came out of my net and made a mistake,” Smith said. “Then there was a dump shortly after that I didn’t retrieve, that I probably could have. The next TV timeout, I’ll never forget it: I went to the bench, Marty looked at me and said, ‘Why didn’t you go get that dump?’ I’m like, ‘Well, I didn’t want to make another mistake.’
“He’s like, ‘No,’” Smith recalls. “He said, ‘You don’t show the other team that you’re rattled. You don’t show your teammates that it bothered you.’ So that’s stuck with me for the past 14-plus years. The stuff you’re doing that makes you successful? You don’t stop doing it because you made a mistake.”
Ironically, Smith was Plan B for Oilers GM Ken Holland last summer, who went back to Smith last fall only after his primary free agent — Jacob Markstrom — chose the Calgary Flames. So competitive is Smith that Holland might claim he never wanted Markstrom at all. He just wanted Smith thinking he had something to prove every time the Oilers played Calgary.
He’s been the better goalie more nights than not versus Calgary, going 3-1 with a .915 save percentage compared to Markstrom’s 2-3 and .844 versus the Oilers this season.
“Just keep improving on my craft,” said Smith, whose points percentage is currently the best of any 38-year-old season in NHL history — just ahead of Gump Worsley. “At my age I want to find ways to improve every year.
“All at the tender age of 39,” said Turco, who still lives in Dallas. “I try to watch every time I can. He really does make me proud.”
