That may be an appropriate description for a forward who seems to have no shortage of tenacity.
With his aggressive style, Smith has produced team-highs in goals (nine), points (16) and penalty minutes (71). Smith is tied for sixth in the 19-team North American Hockey League in goals and leads the NAHL with his 71 penalty minutes.
  
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“He has fire,” Boitz, Alaska’s second-year head coach, said. “He’s such a competitor. You don’t want to take away that spirit. It’s easier to tame a tiger than paint stripes on a pussy cat.”
Sixteen games into the 2009-10 season, Smith has already been involved in a handful of scuffles. As a young player growing up in Anchorage, Smith never really got into that style of play.
But since he hit the NAHL and the Junior A ranks last season, Smith has shown a physical presence to go along with his skill.
“I don’t go out there looking to get (in a fight). I’d rather score goals,” Smith said Monday. “But if it’s something you got to do, it’s something you got to do.”
Most of all, Smith said, he’s just doing anything to get that victory.
“I’ll do anything to win,” Smith said. “Whatever I’ve got to do to get a ‘W’ on the board for our team.”
Smith has certainly factored into a share of Alaska’s victories during the last two seasons. In 58 career games with the Avs, Smith has 23 goals and 17 assists.
He finished the 2008-09 season third on the squad with 14 goals, and among the team leaders with 24 points.
This year, of his nine goals, two are game-winners and three came on the power play. He’s dished out seven assists and is among team leaders with a +8 rating.
“When you look at his goals, they’re always in big situations and against good teams,” Boitz said.
Smith has knack for picking up the garbage goals, knocking rebounds into the net or picking up lose pucks in the offensive zone before a score.
“All my goals come from in front of the net,” Smith said. “I feel like that’s my spot on the ice. That’s where I like to be, especially on the power play.”
Smith, who skated for Service High School as a freshman, played for two seasons for the highly regarded Belle Tire midget program in Detroit, Mich., before advancing to the Junior A level.
“It was unbelievable,” Smith said of his time in Michigan. “I don’t think I’d be where I am now (without it).”
After his time with Belle Tire, a squad that competes in the Midwestern Elite Hockey League, Smith landed in Ohio.
He spent a brief time with the Mahoning Valley Phantoms, a team that played in the NAHL until the end of last season, but Smith said he didn’t see it as a good fit. So with the help of Keith Morris, the Service High head coach and a former coach with the Avalanche, Smith found a way back to his home state and earned a spot with the Avalanche.
With nearly 60 games under Smith’s belt, Boitz feels the Anchorage native has a promising future in hockey.
“He can play Division I hockey for sure,” Boitz said. “He’s got one of those styles. He may not jump out at you, but when you’re standing on the bench coaching, you realize how good he is.”
Smith said he certainly wants the opportunity to play Division I hockey and get a college education. He’s not sure where else his hockey career may lead him, but in the meantime he’ll continue doing what he knows how to do.
Anything it takes to get that victory.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
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