By Mike Beasley /
Dalton Smith can be described one word: ‘work’.
You can add another one – ‘hard’ – to punctuate it.
Hard work is what this young man is all about as he goes about his business as a left winger with the Ottawa 67’s.
Head coach Chris Byrne doesn’t mind his vocabulary whatsoever, in fact, he loves it.
“Dalton works extremely hard whenever he is on the ice and as a result, has become a pretty good player and legitimate NHL prospect,” Byrne said.
“His work ethic is second-to-none and plays the same way his father Derrick did when he was in the NHL. His dad has had a tremendous influence on the way he conducts himself.”
Dalton’s dad, Derrick Smith made a name for himself as a hard-nosed, hard working left winger with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1980s.
For anybody that remembers watching Derrick Smith play for the Flyers back in the day and have checked out the 67s this season, it’s quite easy to pick out his offspring.
The similarities in play between father and son are remarkably similar.
Both players had and have the following characteristics. They skate up and down their wing, prefer to bowl over opponents rather than skate around them, have a decent scoring touch and absolutely never give up on the puck no matter what the situation may be.
Throw in several scraps and a general in-your-face kind of attitude and you have described both generations of hockey players.
The apple definitely didn’t fall very far from the tree when you talk about Dalton.
A player of Dalton’s ilk doesn’t come around very often. A power forward in the making is a valuable commodity in the eyes of NHL scouts.
Ranked 66th for the upcoming NHL Draft, the Oshawa-native is the kind of player that every team needs—honest, hard working and the ultimate team player.
He has learned the value of hard work from not just his dad but from his uncles, Keith and Wayne Primeau, who have skated in the NHL as well.
Keith retired from the Philadelphia Flyers a couple of seasons ago after suffering a career ending concussion while his younger brother Wayne suits up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Being surrounded by family members that stressed that a strong work ethic and dedication is rewarded has definitely rubbed off on me,” said Dalton.
“These guys have played professional hockey so they know what it takes to get there and stay there. Every player may not have outstanding skills but they can work hard all the time.”
Smith is completing his first full season in the OHL after skating in 17 games last year with Ottawa. The 17-year-old skated with the OJHL Whitby Fury for the majority of last season before making the jump to the OHL. If he had played one less game last year (giving him rookie eligibility for this), he might have been considered as a legitimate contender for the 2009/10 OHL Rookie of the Year.
This season, Smith was a force for the East Division champions as he collected 21-23-44 points and 129 penalty minutes in 62 games.
Included in those penalty minutes were more than a couple of tussles against some of the league’s heavyweights with Smith coming out on top or doing quite well on the scorecard.
At 6-2, 195 pounds Smith has the size and temperament to create havoc whenever he hits the ice.
“That’s the way I like to play,” explained Smith.
“I know what I need to do to be successful on the ice—there are never any shortcuts.” |