Tigers’ new assistant comes full circle

By Sean Rooney on July 18, 2018.

srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney

Ryan Smith’s first experience in Medicine Hat came as a 14-year-old invited to a Tigers training camp.

Three decades later, the Manitoba product is going to have his second stint with the team start at camp again. Only this time, he’s an assistant coach.

Smith, 44, was named the Tigers’ newest coach Tuesday, replacing Bobby Fox who was moved to be director of player personnel last month.

“I’ve come full circle, it’s awesome,” said Smith, who spent the last three years with the Swift Current Broncos, culminating in their WHL championship this past spring. “You grow as a person and as a coach when you work with good people. I had that in Swift Current and I’ve got a chance to do that again with the guys in Medicine Hat.

“It’s a new challenge; you’re always looking for new challenges.”

While Smith will initially take on the penalty kill unit, head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston noted there’s no set plan with camp a month away and plenty to talk about between coaches before then. He, Smith and fellow assistant Joe Frazer will hash out the details and start planning how everything will work soon.

“We’re very excited, we think he’ll be a great addition to our group and really help our players,” said Clouston. “Coming off a championship season, that’s an invaluable experience. As we went through the process, we got a great feel — a very personable man, very genuine, comes across with sincerity. Everybody I talked to about him couldn’t say enough good things about his character.”

Smith only ever played seven games in the WHL, with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1992-93. He spent a decade as a pro in Germany and the United Kingdom, scoring 332 goals and 411 assists before embarking on a coaching career.

The Manitoba junior league’s coach of the year in 2014 with Selkirk, he spent a year in Humboldt before signing on with the other Saskatchewan Broncos in 2016.

So why move after reaching the mountaintop?

“That group, for myself I was there for three years so a lot of those players I saw come in as young guys. Now they’re on their way,” he said, agreeing with the idea that it was a natural conclusion. “It’s a personal decision, sometimes it’s time to move on and I felt that way.”

He knows it’ll be odd going back to Swift Current but with new coach Dean Brockman introduced last month and a lot of players moving on, change might have been inevitable.

Clouston focused on Smith’s organizational and off-ice work, a key quality in someone working with WHL players. As for the X’s and O’s, the theory seems to be that every new coach brings something new to the table.

Smith agreed with the notion that it might even be better to have differing strategies between coaches. Communication and trust are important, too.

“I don’t think you want to be on the same page necessarily,” he said. “I’m sure Shaun wants to hear some of my ideas on offensive zone faceoffs. Same with me, I want to learn from him.

“We’re still, at the end of the day, dropping the puck the same way they do in San Jose, in Winnipeg, in Pincher Creek, in Russia. It’s still hockey, it’s still supposed to be fun.”

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