GENE'S BLOG: Stepping up to the Mike

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.

While I consider it a badge of honour to be playing so well at this age, it's not the way Smith sees it. It's also not the way his teammates and the organization look at him because he doesn't look, act, or play like a 40-year-old. He has defied the aging process and found himself on one of the hottest goaltending streaks of his entire career.
It's been a tough season for the goalie. After a hot start, he was injured. He came back, and was injured again. He came back, and then he became ill. It is difficult for anyone to find the greatness in their game when they can't play. Just ask Smith, who has been as good at handling all the questions about his age and his season as he has been at handling the puck.
He is fiercely competitive and always honest when assessing himself and his play. He plays behind a mask, but he doesn't hide behind it. If Smith is great, he'll let others tell you about it. If he's not, he'll be the first one to say it. It's a combination of character traits that has made Mike an invaluable leader on the ice and in the room. Smith would be a candidate to wear the 'C' over the course of his career, if he played any other position but puck-stopper.
Stopping pucks is what he's doing right now, and he's doing it better than any other goalie in the NHL. You just have to look at what he has accomplished in the month of April to answer the question: "Has Mike Smith found his game?". On the first day of April, he allowed five goals but withstood a heavy challenge to help Edmonton hold off St. Louis in an overtime win.
Two days later, it was 31 stops on 32 shots against Anaheim. Two days after that in San Jose, he had the exact same numbers, plus an incredible assist on Connor McDavid's OT winner. To finish the California trip against Los Angeles on April 7, just two goals allowed on 33 shots.
What we didn't know is Smith was just getting warmed up. After a week between games, he put together flawless performances against Nashville (30 saves) and Vegas (39 saves).

With what he accomplished against the Predators and Golden Knights, Smith became just the sixth goalie age 40 or older to record back-to-back shutouts. He's the first goalie to do so since Martin Brodeur in 2013. Any time your name comes up alongside the greatest goaltender of all time, that should tell you all you need to know about your play.
Edmonton's next opponent is Dallas. Coincidentally, it's where Smith's NHL journey began as a fifth-round choice of the Stars in 2001. He made his debut with them in 2006 and the rest is 'Smithstory'. In life he is a father of four, but in hockey, father time has yet to find a way to catch up to Mike Smith.