Former Trojan returns to Tisdale as an assistant coach

Smith spent two seasons with the Trojans from 2014 to 2016. The shutdown center had 18 goals and 27 assists in 87 regular season games and four goals and six assists in 22 playoff games before taking a 40-minute ride up Highway 35 to play in Nipawin.

Smith’s hockey coaching experience includes three years of helping run conditioning and training camps, although he’s ready to take on the Midget AAA opportunity that lies ahead.

(submitted photo/Daven Smith).

Another believer is Doug Johnson, the Hawks’ head coach who looked over Smith for two seasons from 2016 to 2018.

“I think Smitty will do real well,” Johnson said. “Just his work ethic and infectious attitude. He worked his tail off, was great on the penalty kill and face offs, but I thought in the locker room was where he really shined. He always came in and made people comfortable – he was a jokester and kept things light – but he also had the ability to rein [the players] in when they needed to keep it light and also be focused.

“He has a very good network where he can call me or any old teammates at any time to get advice. Just how he conducted himself as a Nipawin Hawk, I think it’ll be a good fit and he’ll do a great job as an assistant coach and hopefully transition to a phenomenal head coach in the future.”

Johnson’s advice for Smith in his coaching career is to be patient, listen, voice his opinion when appropriate, and work hard.

By all accounts, Smith intends to do just that.

“Some people see that I’m a younger coach and they’re going to think I’m too young to be coaching,” he said. “I think the players are going to like that a lot more because I can relate to them and have been in their shoes not too long ago. I know what they’re going to be going through their day-to-day lives on and off the ice. I really think we’ll be able to communicate and have a good player-to-coach relationship that’s really going to help us.”

From a coaching perspective, Smith intends to deliver some defensive insight and strategy on a technical aspect, and how to perform during high pressure situations, such as the 2018 Canalta Cup where he and his Hawks won game seven of the SJHL Finals in Nipawin.

Most importantly, Smith wanted to deliver another championship to the Town of Tisdale.

“Going into a season, you never just hope to do well or be a .500 team,” he said. “You want to get the boys rallied and try to win every single game possible and do whatever you can to win the town a championship.”

Smith will officially begin his Midget AAA hockey coaching career when the Trojans host their training camp from Aug. 17 to 18 in Humboldt.

by Aaron Schulze

Former Trojan returns to Tisdale as an assistant coach

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