| Mike Smith | |
|---|---|
Smith during his tenure with the Tampa Bay Lightning. |
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| Born | March 22, 1982 Kingston, ON, CAN Raised Verona, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb) |
| Position | Goaltender |
| Catches | Left |
| NHL team Former teams |
Phoenix Coyotes Dallas Stars Tampa Bay Lightning |
| NHL Draft | 161st overall, 2001 Dallas Stars |
| Playing career | 2002–present |
Mike Smith (born March 22, 1982) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently with the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League. He has also previously played with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Smith began his hockey career in 1999 playing for his hometown Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. That season he played 15 games while backing up future NHL player Andrew Raycroft (currently with the Dallas Stars).
After the start of the 2000–2001 season, Smith moved to Sudbury Wolves where he played 43 games registering a 2.52 GAA and 0.913 save percentage in the regular season. The Wolves made it to the second round of the playoffs that year with Smith in net.
Smith is the only goaltender in history to record a shutout, score a goal and receive a fighting major in the same game.
In 2001, Mike Smith was drafted by Dallas in the fifth round, 161st overall, and continued to play in Sudbury, again taking the Wolves into the post-season. Their playoff run ended in five games as the Barrie Colts won the series 4-1.
The subsequent season saw Smith's departure from the junior leagues when he split the season between Lexington of the ECHL and Utah of the AHL. He played only 11 games in Utah backing up Jason Bacashihua and Corey Hirsch. For 2003–2004, Utah added Dan Ellis to their roster, with whom Smith split back up duties, again to Bacashihua. Smith went to play for the Houston Aeros in 2004–2005 sharing the net almost equally with Josh Harding, putting up a 0.915 save percentage and 2.42 GAA.
Smith joined the Iowa Stars for their inaugural season in 2005–2006. The Stars played Smith and Dan Ellis back and forth for much of the season until Smith appeared to take much of the netminding responsibilities late in the season. A Stars rally in the stretch secured the final Western Conference playoff spot. Smith started in every game of the seven-game series against the Milwaukee Admirals which Milwaukee ultimately won.
Smith underwent shoulder surgery during the off-season for an injury he sustained during Iowa's 2005–2006 season. After a faster-than-expected recovery, Smith attended the Dallas Stars' training camp in the fall of 2006, and was awarded the backup goaltender position behind Marty Turco. In his first-ever regulation NHL game on October 21, 2006, Smith stopped 22 shots to post a shutout against the Phoenix Coyotes.[1]
On January 4, 2007, Smith was hit in the head by a 100 mph slapshot, causing him to miss a few weeks with a concussion. But he came back strong, winning 2 games in which Turco was pulled. Then he registered a 32 save shutout vs the Ducks on February 10.
Smith also started the year living with Marty Turco's family. However, he eventually moved out and then signed a 2 year, $950,000 a year contract with the Stars.
On June 14, 2007, Smith was named to the 2006–07 NHL All-Rookie Team.
On February 26, 2008, Smith was traded with Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern, and a 4th round draft pick in 2009 to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist. Smith made his Lightning debut the following night against the Minnesota Wild, stopping 24 of 27 shots in a 3-2 loss.
On March 15, Smith recorded a 3-0 shutout victory over the New York Rangers. Smith became only the third rookie goaltender in National Hockey League history to record a shutout for two different teams in the same season, and the first to do so in 79 years.[2] Smith recorded 14 wins for the Lightning during the 2008-09 season before suffering a concussion that kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. On February 2, 2011, the Tampa Bay Lightning placed Smith on waivers. He cleared waivers the next day and was assigned to the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals.[3] He returned to Tampa Bay later in the season, and, backing up Dwayne Roloson during the Lightning 2011 Postseason run, made his playoff debut in place of Roloson in the third period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins.
On July 1, 2011, Smith signed a two-year contract worth $2 million with the Phoenix Coyotes.[4] Smith hopes to "carry the Coyotes" to the playoffs one more time.
Smith and former Canadian World Cup skier Brigitte Acton married September 3, 2010.[5]
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T/OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1999–2000 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 15 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 666 | 42 | 0 | 3.78 | .881 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 8 | 0 | 3.53 | .884 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 43 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2571 | 108 | 3 | 2.52 | .913 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 735 | 26 | 2 | 2.12 | .914 | ||
| 2001–02 | Sudbury Wolves | OHL | 53 | 19 | 28 | 5 | 3082 | 157 | 3 | 3.06 | .914 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 302 | 15 | 0 | 2.98 | .918 | ||
| 2002–03 | Lexington Men O' War | ECHL | 27 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 1553 | 66 | 1 | 2.55 | .910 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 93 | 8 | 0 | 5.14 | .822 | ||
| 2002–03 | Utah Grizzlies | ECHL | 11 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 614 | 33 | 0 | 3.23 | .906 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Utah Grizzlies | ECHL | 21 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 1186 | 56 | 2 | 2.83 | .908 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Houston Aeros | AHL | 45 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 2408 | 97 | 5 | 2.42 | .915 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 181 | 4 | 0 | 1.33 | .957 | ||
| 2005–06 | Iowa Stars | AHL | 50 | 25 | 19 | 6 | 2998 | 125 | 3 | 2.50 | .917 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 417 | 19 | 0 | 2.74 | .907 | ||
| 2006–07 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 23 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1213 | 45 | 3 | 2.23 | .912 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 21 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1172 | 48 | 2 | 2.46 | .906 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 13 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 774 | 36 | 1 | 2.79 | .893 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 41 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 2471 | 108 | 2 | 2.62 | .916 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 42 | 13 | 18 | 7 | 2273 | 117 | 2 | 3.09 | .900 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 22 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1202 | 58 | 1 | 2.90 | .899 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 | .958 | ||
| 2010–11 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 296 | 9 | 1 | 1.83 | .924 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 162 | 67 | 66 | 19 | 9105 | 412 | 11 | 2.71 | .906 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 | .958 | ||||