Well, apparently mine is at home.
I wrote my guest post at The Production Line last week about awesomely talented Brendan Smith.
Literally, that same day, I decided I was going all in and giving this blogging thing a shot. I decided to use Smith as inspiration for my blog's name. I've gone on record, and will gladly do so again, that I think Smith has some insane talent and ridiculous potential as a NHL player.
I had a blast writing the post and creating this blog. Smith, I can easily say, is a player that I want to see succeed to his fullest potential. Not just for the Wings' sake, but because I like the kid too.
This past week the Red Wings held their prospects camp and George Malik over at MLive did a fantastic job (as always) covering the events of the week. Earlier this week, I wrote a post about Smith injuring his shoulder at camp. Well, just today I read that Smith was given the choice of staying at camp for the last few days or leaving early to go home. I found George's take on the situation very compelling.
The first expletive, of course, involved the utterly ridiculously talented Brendan Smith, who, after a week's worth of playing a good citizen and insisting that he would take on a leadership role as he put his, ahem, list of indiscretions behind him, decided that the best thing he could do after suffering a slightly separated left shoulder on the fourth day of his fourth prospect camp--and the first in which he was under contract to the Red Wings and not playing NCAA college, and thus was finally staying in a nice Detroit hotel without paying for the privilege out of his own pocket--was to head home to enjoy another day's worth of hanging out with his buddies instead of sticking around and encouraging his teammates.
I am really torn on this story. Part of me wants to think it's really a non-issue and it may very well be. We really don't know what goes on internally between the organ-i-zation and it's players. I wish I could've been a fly on the wall during the discussion between Smith and Kenny and co.
My initial reaction, similar to George's, was 'Oh man, he should've stayed.' Maybe that's just us though? Throughout my lifetime, whether it was ice hockey or cross country, when/if I was hurt or unable to compete, I was always still at the game or race cheering on my teammates. I was never required to be there, but it was my choice to do so.
Was this a test by the Red Wings front office? On one hand, I think it was some type of leadership/character test, but on the other hand, if it was truly important to the Wings that he stay, I think they would have been straightforward enough with him and said so. From what I've read, they gave him the option to go home, he didn't ask to go home.
And let's not forget, this is his fourth prospect camp. He knows the ropes. I don't want to sound like this camp isn't important, it really is a big deal for these kids, but he's been there and done that. And maybe that is his attitude? Maybe he feels like he's paid his prospects camp dues and if the big club said, 'hey kid, you're more than welcome to head home,' then why not? Pretty soon, he's going to be on the road for the next year and living in Detroit or Grand Rapids. He probably saw it as a chance to go home to Mimico, Ontario, Canada and visit his family.
I'm a big Smith fan and I want him to make the club this season, but I don't want to sound like I am going to be a person that will defend him at all costs. He has shown with some of his off-the-ice behavior that he isn't perfect and I will gladly hand out criticism when and where it is due. I just don't think this is an issue that needs to be overblown. I could be wrong? It's just my opinion and everyone will probably see this story differently.
At the end of the day, I just hope that when he was at the prospects camp, he took on that leadership role in the locker room and on the ice. I can't wait to see Smith compete this preseason with the team and, hopefully, the regular season too. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if he makes this team out of camp, I'll be the first person in line to buy my #2 sweater.
(Here is the video from the Red Wings' Facebook page of Smith talking about the injury, going home, and prospects camp. Enjoy!)
Lets Go Red Wings
There's also the possibility that his competitiveness was getting the better of him and he couldn't really stand to just sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else out there doing the one thing he came to do and now couldn't.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was tearing him up inside not being able to go lace up the skates and go out and play, and the Wings' brass said, "You know what, kid? Don't sit here and let it bring you down. Go rest up and relax, and get better."
Fingers crossed, at least.
If the kid was told "you can go home if you like, but we would prefer if you stayed" and he left, that might be a bit of an issue. But if the team didn't express a preference, then it shouldn't matter. He's not going to have the option to just head home for a few days once he really starts working full time, so he has to take advantage of his opportunities.
ReplyDeleteIf the team presented him with two choices, and they had a clear preference for one over the other but didn't tell him as some kind of a "test," I give them exactly the same amount of respect as a girlfriend who pretends indifference to see if her boyfriend can read her mind, and then gets pissy when he can't ... which is very little.
Don't screw around with childish mind games. Tell your employees what you would like them to do, and then judge them on how well they do it. The rest is freaking stupid.
Love both your comments. Thanks a ton for reading, especially at the ungodly hour that I posted this!
ReplyDelete@Rob: I can see Smith being so competitive that it was hard for him to stick around. He probably wanted to be on the ice so bad and maybe was trying to talk the front office and coaching staff to let him skate, injury or not. I've been on the sidelines before and you badly want to be out there competing and helping your team.
@Baroque: I have to imagine that the Red Wings front office would be straightforward with him. It's pretty well known that the Wings are the best at treating their employees with the utmost respect. I'd like to think that if they wanted him to stay, they would have told him. Great comparison with the girlfriend/boyfriend example haha.
Who cares. We'll judge him by his conduct on the ice this fall. If he has a sense of entitlement, it will run square into the brick wall that is Mike Babcock. Brendan Smith will earn his time on the NHL squad or not. I hope he's 75% of the talent he's been hyped to be.
ReplyDeleteI was really bothered my George's comment. I read his stuff every day but tend to get annoyed when I see him harping on something that involves making such ridiculous assumptions.
ReplyDeleteSo many factors that make his comment so wrong.
- Smith says right in the video he was going to stay, but Detroit left it up to him.
- Says he went home to see family, George makes it sound like a personal thing when he writes that he left to see his "buddies."
- Detroit made no comments indicating they wanted him to stay.
- Detroit already met with Smith last once to straighten some things out, I doubt they would play this "boyfriend/girlfriend" game, as Baroque put it so well. I'm sure they're on the same page.
The kid has enough legitimate issues to be worried about. Skipping out two days on a prospect camp is not one of them.
So I would not worry about defending him, especially in this instance. I really don't like when George makes a comment like that because people regard him as a professional. People are going to read that, see it's on mLive, and assume that it's a fact and not just his opinion. But really, even though he says wonderful things about Smith's talent level, it seems he's had a problem letting the alcohol incident go. Which, again, as much as I think it was a bad decision, it's not the worst thing in the world. I know hockey players, and I guarantee he wasn't there alone. He was just the only one who got caught. George made it sound like he has a drinking problem, when really he's just doing what more than half of all college students do on a regular basis. If he keeps misbehaving in GR, I'm concerned. Until then, I like his game and I genuinely like his attitude -- he gave a couple very interesting interviews this year. I wish him well, and wish people wouldn't make a big deal out of this as well.