Ironically, it's Smith's connection to another Petersen that could help him reach his ultimate goal.
Toby Petersen was a 9th-round pick (244th overall) of the Penguins in 1998. At 5-foot-10 and a type-one diabetic, Petersen would overcome significant odds to play more than a thousand professional games in the AHL (621) and NHL (416), regular season and playoffs combined.
He had two cracks at the Calder Cup in his first four seasons with the Penguins organization. In his 14th year of professional hockey (and seventh with the Stars organization) he helped the Texas Stars to their first Calder Cup in 2014 and retired as a champion.
In short, the Minnesota native, product of NCAA hockey (four years at Colorado College), and first-year Amerks assistant coach has an awful lot to impart on Smith, a player he has "known" for more than a decade.
"Well, he was the locker-room stick boy when I was playing in Iowa, so we go back a ways," Petersen laughed.
Although they hadn't kept in touch, Smith was quick to re-introduce himself to Petersen when the Sabres convened for the Prospects Challenge at HarborCenter back in September.
Knowing that hockey was what "he wanted to do", Smith's family understood his passion for the game and a higher level of competition, and they moved to Minnesota as he entered eighth grade.
His first two years in the State of Hockey were spent at Bloomington Jefferson - the same Bloomington Jefferson where Petersen had played 13 years earlier.
At age 16, Smith figured he was probably the second youngest player in the NAHL.
He would play for the Austin Bruins in his final two years of high school before one season in the USHL, and then it was off to UMass-Lowell - in part due to the recommendation from a former Bruins teammate in
Christian Folin
, now a defenseman for the LA Kings. (And because it seems inevitable based on how this story is being woven, Folin would also find his way to Iowa for parts of two seasons while trying to earn a full time spot with the Minnesota Wild!)
As for Smith, he's doing everything the Amerks could have asked for - seeing time on both the power play and penalty kill and leading the team in points with 23 in 22 games, good for a spot in the top 10 in the AHL.
Speaking from experience, Petersen said that Smith's biggest challenge this year will be the length of his first pro season, the need for proper rest and conserving his energy.
The only downside I can see is the intra-conference schedule in the AHL this year, meaning Smith won't be making it back to his hometown for a game anytime soon.
"I take pride in it. It's pretty cool," Smith said of his roots. "Iowa is obviously not a hockey hotbed if I'm just the second one to make it to this level, so I'm pretty proud of where I came from, and pretty proud to make it where I've made it."
