Former Bison wins bronze

Times Reporter 

 

Defenseman Josh Smith, a former UFA Bison, and Team Canada West took part in the Junior A World Hockey Challenge in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia from Nov. 4-10. 16 to 19-year-old players from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba comprised the Canada West side, facing off against Canada East, the United States, Russia, Czech Republic, and Switzerland.

“It’s a very high class tournament. Team Canada as a whole treat it very professionally. It’s going very well for us. It’s a very cool experience,” said Smith, a Lacombe native. “There are definitely a lot of Canadian fans out there. Luckily we haven’t played Canada East yet, I don’t know how the fans would go that way. They show up for a lot of our games – it’s been sold out so far.”

Smith played for the Bisons for the 2009-2010 season, and graduated to the Prince George Cougars in the WHL for three seasons. Now an assistant captain for the Camrose Kodiaks in the AJHL, he has 11 points in 17 games; he’s on pace to surpass last year’s personal best numbers of 28 points in 58 games.  

Smith is one of five 19-year-olds on Canada West, and brings the experience of playing for Canada Pacific in the 2010-2011 World U17 Tournament.

“Lots of the European teams have guys that are actually going to the World Juniors. Playing with them is quite an experience, but to be able to say that we beat that team is a very privileged saying,” he said.

Smith had pegged the United States or Russia as Canada West’s toughest opponents – after beating Switzerland and the Czech Republic in pool play, they lost to Russia in the semi finals on Nov. 8, 5-2.

“In a short term competition like this, it’s kind of up in the air,” Smith said. “There’s no real way to tell. If you make a mistake, it can go either way. You never know for sure.”

Canada West captured bronze against Switzerland on Nov. 9, by a score of 5-3. Smith had two assists in four tournament games. As a 19-year-old, this was Smith’s last year of eligibility for this tournament. His current goals are to win the RBC Cup with the Kodiaks, make his way back to the WHL, and hopefully, to play hockey at a collegiate level while completing his education.

“I want to find a place to play later on in my years,” Smith said. “I’m in Camrose this year, and going back to the WHL is kind of been a main goal for me. Being able to work back and get there next year would be quite a goal to reach, but it all depends on how this year goes.”

Smith credits much of his success to what he learned while with the UFA Bisons in Strathmore; the team won 18 of 34 games, and lost in the semi-finals in 2011.

“We had a really good team; we had a lot of guys that were in that WHL bantam draft,” he said. “We didn’t do so well during the playoffs, but it was a pretty big stepping stone to get to where I was in the WHL later.”