I remember it like it was yesterday, even if it was 15 years ago. I was an athlete (and I use the term loosely) growing up. I played all sports and enjoyed all of them. Whether it was soccer or baseball, hockey or tennis, basketball or volleyball, football or anything else involving a ball, cleats, skates, racquet and uniform, I loved it.
A love for sports has shaped who I am, and what I do. There was a time I stepped away from playing because of some knee issues. Instead, I became a soccer referee (boooooooo). It allowed me to stay in the game with a little less physical abuse, but maybe a little more verbal.
However, I did make a comeback at the age of 40. What I remember from that Friday night soccer game in the summer of 2007 was how I felt on Saturday, Sunday, and the next week. I was hobbled and hurting. I needed a maintenance month with my lower-body soreness. I had never experienced anything like that in my way-less-than-a-professional sporting career.
Maybe I should have reached out to Mike Smith for some tips on 40-something fitness. I'll never forget how I felt like I won't soon forget the recent play of the Edmonton Oilers netminder. The only sore spot Smith feels about the age of 40 is when you ask him about it. It really is just a number stating he was born on March 22, 1982 in Kingston, Ontario. He simply wants to be known as an NHL netminder and not a 40-year-old NHL netminder.
GENE'S BLOG: Stepping up to the Mike
In his latest blog, Gene Principe looks at the ageless performance of goaltender Mike Smith as of late
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POST-RAW | Mike Smith 04.16.22