Mark Christopher Smith (born October 24, 1977) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

Playing career

Smith was selected by the

in the ninth round, 219th overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. On July 24, 2006, Smith was awarded a $700,000 one-year contract through arbitration. In September 2007, he was invited for a tryout at the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

training camp; however, after playing in 2 pre-season games with the club, he was released. Less than a week later, he was signed by the Flames. His career was ended when he was crushed into the boards by Derek Boogaard and suffered neck injuries on March 22, 2008. Mercury News
Taking it to the streets — ex-Shark Mark Smith looks to be enjoying his life and his music after the NHL.

Playing style

Smith was a fast skater with an energetic checking style and scrappy demeanour that sometimes resulted in fights. San Jose had utilized Smith as a penalty killer and powerplay specialist. In the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Na ...

Smith displayed some of his offensive ability by setting a career high in regular season and playoff goals.

Off the ice

Smith is the guitarist and lead singer for the Bay Area band, The Vinyl Trees, featured on Smith's own record label Lunar Records. He started Lunar Records during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. Smith, who has been playing guitar since age 16, adds color to his music with a variety of other instruments like the

Didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

, the

Xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

, and the Donkey Jaw. He is also known for his constantly changing hair styles. Smith made his debut as a commentator for Comcast Sports Net Bay Area during the 2009 playoffs. He is a color commentator for select

games. He and his wife ran a clothing store, Ayla, in downtown

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-ai ...

, now closed.Mercury News
Taking it to the streets — ex-Shark Mark Smith looks to be enjoying his life and his music after the NHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

* Named to the WHL East Second All-Star Team in 1998

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mark 1977 births Calgary Flames players Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Edmonton Kentucky Thoroughblades players Lethbridge Hurricanes players Living people San Jose Sharks draft picks San Jose Sharks players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Victoria Salmon Kings players