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

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

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; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

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, and ...

Playing career

Smith was selected by the

in the ninth round, 219th overall, in the

1997 NHL Entry Draft The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was the 35th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1997. As of 2022, the only remaining active player in the NHL from the 1997 draft class is Joe Thornton. Selections ...

. 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 the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

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 Nation ...

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 while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

, the

Xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

, 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, 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 Victoria Salmon Kings players