Mike Smith (ice hockey, born 1982)
Mike Smith ( born March 22, 1982 in Kingston, Ontario ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who plays for the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League since July 2011.
Career
Smith began his career in 1999 in the Canadian Junior Football League Ontario Hockey League with the Kingston Frontenacs in his hometown. There he shared the post with goalkeeper Andrew Raycroft, who now plays for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At the beginning of the season 2000 /01 he left Kingston towards Sudbury Wolves, who also play in the OHL, where he completed 43 games held at a Gegentorschnitt of 2.52 and 91.3 percent shooting. He was pulled after his first year in the NHL Entry Draft in Sudbury in 2001 by the Dallas Stars at 161st place in the fifth round, but remained another year in the OHL.
As a professional player, he then moved in 2002 to the East Coast Hockey League, where he talked about, as he was for his team, the Lexington Men O'War, was able to achieve a shutout and a gate on one evening ( at the same time the game his first victory as a professional ). In the same season he was also 11 times for the Utah Grizzlies used where he represented Jason Bacashihua or Corey Hart.
After he graduated at the Houston Aeros, the 2004/05 season and brought good performance, Smith played for the Iowa Stars, the AHL farm team of the Dallas Stars. Here he shared the position as goalkeeper with Dan Ellis and came up with 50 games he graduated with a Gegentorschnitt of 2.5 and a catch rate of 91.7 %. He helped the Iowa Stars, founded in 2005, in their first playoffs in which he was able to maintain its performance constant and could also prevail as the number 1 against Ellis. In April 2006 he was awarded Player of the Month. Smith was able to record the first shutout stars also in the short history of Iowa. In January 2006, Smith made his debut in the jersey of the stars, as he. For a game as a substitute for Johan Hedberg, Marty Turco took, sat on the bench, but did not play
In the season 2006/07, Smith ran on as Marty Turcos substitute for the Dallas Stars. Smith received a one-year contract by the stars. He was on October 21, 2006 to celebrate his NHL debut and capped a superb performance with his first NHL shutout. In June 2007 he was finally elected to the NHL All- Rookie Team. In addition, he received a two -year contract for 950 000 U.S. dollars per year.
Also in the 2007/ 08 season convinced Smith with good benefits and still developed with the Turco of the Dallas Stars team goalkeeper. End of February 2008 he was transferred together with Jussi Jokinen but Jeff Halpern and the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist to send to Dallas. Smith should play in Tampa Bay the place as first-choice goalkeeper.
On 1 July 2011, he was awarded a contract for two years with the Phoenix Coyotes. In the 2013/14 season, Smith scored 11 as the only goalkeeper in the NHL history to score.
In the season 2005/ 06 and in 2003, Smith was able to gain experience in the Canadian national team, when he was nominated for the Loto Cup in Slovakia.
2014 he was with the Canadian National Team Olympic champion.
Awards and achievements
- 2007 NHL All- Rookie Team
- 2012 NHL Player of the Month in February
- 2014 Gold Medal at the Olympic Winter Games
Private
Mike Smith is married to the former Canadian alpine skier Brigitte Acton; the wedding took place on 3 September 2010.