PORTLAND, Maine—An errant puck may have ended Jordan Smith's dream of playing in the National Hockey League, but it didn't end his hockey career.
A year after the puck struck him in the eye while he was playing with the Portland Pirates, Smith returned to the ice with Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. After his first full season with the Thunderwolves, Smith is an All-Canadian hockey player.
"His determination and the passion he has for the game, I'm sure, is something he's had all his life," Lakehead Coach Don McKee told the Portland Press Herald. "The way he's continued to demonstrate it in overcoming his sight problem has made him a role model as a hockey player."
Smith's professional career was off to a promising start when the puck struck him in the face, lacerating his eye and breaking the orbital bones surrounding his eye. Ater the 2006 incident, the American Hockey League made face protection mandatory for all players in the league.
Since taking to the ice, Smith has had to make adjustments.
"I had to learn to play the game a new kind of way," he said. "I have to know where people are on the ice.
To help, McKee played him as part of a five-man unit. "We played him with the same guys all the time," McKee said. "They were really working on communication as a key to help him."
But Smith said his biggest adjustment was off the ice.
"When I was playing professional hockey, I got up at 8:30 in the morning and went to the ice arena for two or three hours," he said. "Now I have to go to class all day and do homework as well as play hockey."
Smith, 22, has three more seasons of college eligibility, but he hasn't ruled out returning to professional hockey after his schooling is completed.
The NHL is no longer a possibility for Smith. Players in hockey's top professional league are required to have sight in both eyes. However, other professional leagues remain open to him.
McKee also believes Smith has a future in hockey.
"I think Jordan Smith will wind up coaching hockey some day," McKee said. "He's a student of the game and I think he'll make a good coach."
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
