Every now and then a young athlete finds the admirable intersection of charisma, dedication and encapsulating talent.
Put simply: Jake Smith walked that walk for the North Bay Battalion.
He has been the franchise’s most successful player at one of the game’s most demanding positions on a team that leans heavily on a steady, game-stealing stalwart in the crease.
The graduating overage goaltender personified class at the major-junior level and was the backbone for some of the team’s incredible rides since moving to town.
But while his greatness can be told through the tale of metrics, it’s the subjective details that will define his North Bay legacy.
With Smith, who was always sharp-dressed and gracious to grant an interview regardless of the circumstances, two things remained absolutely obvious: he cared about the team (a lot) and he had an ardent abhorrence for losing.
Which likely explains why his major-junior career finished to the tune of a 90-51-14-9 regular season record and a 27-17-6 playoff record.
“It was unbelievable - it was the best four years of my life,” Smith said simply last week.
“I think I really learned how to be a man playing in this organization and being out on my own,” he added. “Just the amount of situations we’ve been put through - a bunch of adversity, the way we’ve all come together as a team, we’ve all worked together - it’s helped me a lot in my life.”
The once-upon-a-time ninth-round Battalion draft pick cut his teeth as a 17-year-old by jumping in for 20 games in his rookie season and ultimately finishing the playoffs with two hard-fought overtime losses.
For those who saw Smith step in for those two games in the team’s first-round loss to Sudbury, they witnessed the birth of a clutch playoff performer and a player who thrives under pressure.
“The first orientation camp I went to in Brampton, I don’t think I thought I would make the team, let alone accomplish what I have,” Smith reflected.
Nevertheless, the soon-to-be 21-year-old graduated with a well-decorated résumé, including franchise-best numbers in games played (170), regular season wins (90), regular season shutouts (9), playoff appearances (50), post-season wins (27), playoff shutouts (5) and career totals of 2.72 goals-against average and a 0.899 save percentage.
“He’s a fighter and he’s a battler,” Battalion coach Stan Butler said of his go-to goalie. “Nobody has ever given him anything. He wasn’t a high pick in the OHL and he had to earn everything he got.”
So it’s no surprise then that Smith earned his own loyal fan base within the seventh man contingent, as the standing ovations for his countless three-star performances were a testament to.
“The city means a ton to me,” he said. “I came here when I was just a 17-year-old coming up and starting to learn how to play goal. Just seeing how they’ve grown on me and how I’ve grown on them, it’s unbelievable being able to go out in the community and share those moments with them and help out.
“Coming from Brampton and starting something up here in North Bay, it’s something I’ll definitely remember for the rest of my life,” he continued. “There’s a lot of great memories, I played with a lot of great teammates, and I played for a great coach, great coaching staff and the city itself was amazing - the fans were unbelievable.”
A member of the family
Beyond the crease, Smith’s pro-persona had compounding affects throughout the community too.
After meeting Smith at one of the Brampton team’s practices in North Bay the Spring before the team moved to town, Sharon Fung and her family were smitten with the way the young goaltender interacted with their son Nick, a goaltender for the North Bay North Stars, a program for hockey players with developmental disabilities that Sharon created.
At first, the possibility of billeting one of the team’s players wasn’t even a consideration.
But after the call for billet parents went out over the following summer and some considerable thought, the Fung’s offered to host a Battalion player if they could snag Smith as their tennant, based on his kindness, graciousness, maturity and charm.
And their intuition proved to be spot on.
“We feel we have gained another family member and he really feels like one of our own,” said Fung. “It is a bit daunting to promise another mother that you will care for their child with as much love as they do but it wasn’t hard to quickly get very attached to Jake.”
Above all, Fung said Smith’s raw, heartfelt relationship with Nick, who has autism spectrum disorder, was the biggest benefit of taking him into their home.
Smith stepped into the Fung household and immediately built the foundation for his special connection with Nick by sharing goalie tips, mentoring his roommate and being an overall big brother.
“Having Jake in the house helped Nick to develop into a more mature young man and the change in him is due in large part to having such a great role model in the house,” said Sharon. “Jake definitely became the big brother that Nick never had. He was always sensitive to Nick’s ups and downs and what he was dealing with.”
Obviously, the impact was mutual.
Nick would often leave inspiring notes for Jake before a game and, if the team lost, the young Fung would run home and leave chocolates, cookies and any other comfort for the Battalion goaltender.
“He’s definitely a brother to me,” Smith said. “Just the stuff that we’ve shared together and the way that we’ve both helped each other learn and go through life is amazing.
“I don’t think it will set in that I’m not going to be living with them for a while,” he added solemnly. “They were an amazing family and they took me in right away and made me feel right at home. We ended up getting really close and that relationship is definitely going to last forever.”
For Nick’s mother, watching their mutual relationship evolve over time was fully realized when the two shared the ice in the annual Battalion versus North Stars games, memories Sharon said she will always treasure.
“It was good for Nick to see that even though he was a great goalie on the ice he was an even better person off the ice - hard working but always humble and unassuming,” said Sharon. “He is a very humble, mature and likeable young man and a fine role model for Nick.”
With all the accolades and celebrated tenure in a Battalion jersey, it’s hard to believe that the writing isn’t on the wall for Smith’s next career move.
Fighting for his future as an overager, he posted the second-best save percentage of his career (0.901) and finished with the most wins (30) of any of his four seasons in the league. Until the Troops were eliminated, he also led all active OHL goaltenders with 27 playoff victories.
“This was a tough year for Jake because I think [he] put a lot of pressure on himself, probably too much at times,” Butler said last week. “Sometimes wanting to win is important - but wanting to win too much as a goalie, it makes it tough on you.”
The scouting commentary seems to circle around his lacking the stature of modern-era NHL goaltender.
But that fails to acknowledge his unparalleled athleticism that puts him leaps ahead of most of his competitors.
Not to mention his incredible reflexes and puck-tracking abilities, which allowed him to easily make a first save and, on the rare occasion there was a rebound, position himself to put the odds in his favour to make the next one too.
“I’m definitely hoping to maybe get a pro contract somewhere, but I’m definitely still keeping the school option open,” Smith explained. “It’s tough - I think that’s one of the toughest things to deal with, I have no idea where I’m going to end up four months from now.
“I’ve just got to keep grinding, keep working hard and hopefully the right guy sees you,” he added.
While that unyielding work ethic is sure to serve him well wherever he ends up, there’s also a little something he wants to impart on his Battalion teammates who follow in his foot steps.
“Just have fun and enjoy it,” he said simply. “It goes by a lot faster than you think.
“You might go through some tough times, some ups and down, but no matter what: your life is never as good as it is when you’re playing in the OHL,” he concluded. “Just have fun and every time you step on the ice, make sure you give it your all.”
Battalion fans know better than anybody that he lived that credo until the very end of his time in town.
