‘It’s all you can hope for’: Blake Smith brings home Calder Cup

Blake Smith and young fan Nolan Allen, are seen here with the Calder Cup, the American Hockey League championship trophy, during a stop-over at Creekside Golf in Grafton. /Alan Rivett photo

By sports correspondent Alan Rivett

With a wide smile on his face, Blake Smith – Cobourg’s member of the Calder-Cup-winning Toronto Marlies – was determined to share the championship feeling with as many people as possible around Cobourg during his day with the cup on Monday, July 27.

The 21-year-old defenceman parlayed his rookie season with the Marlies – the top American Hockey League farm team of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs – into a season to remember as he and his Marlies teammates defeated the Chicago Wolves four games to one in the final to capture the Calder Cup last month.

“It doesn’t get much better than that – it’s all you can hope for,” said Smith, of his outstanding cup-winning season while surrounded by a number of fans and well-wishers on the patio at Creekside Golf in Grafton. “You never really expect it, but we had a really good team, and we were able to get it done.

“One of the most exciting moments was winning that cup. I’m so thrilled about it and I get to spend the day with it now.”

Smith received the cup Sunday night, and the morning after, he and his father Derrick Smith ventured out to additional locations like Kelly’s Homelike Inn around Cobourg to give hockey fans a chance to have photos taken and autographs with him and the cup.

Blake Smith, right, and his father Derrick Smith, with the Calder Cup during a stop-over at Creekside Golf in Grafton on Monday, July 27. The Cobourg defenceman played his rookie season with the Toronto Marlies this season, which culminated in a Calder Cup victory. /Alan Rivett photo

Later that day, he gathered with family and friends at home before handing over the cup to teammate and fellow defenceman Ben Danforth who took the cup to Madoc.

His father is also a former NHLer who serves as the kitchen manager at Creekside Golf and is beyond proud of what his son was able to accomplish in his rookie season.

“For his first season in the AHL to win the Calder Cup is very, very special and this is his one day he gets to spend with the cup, so we’re trying to go to as many places as we can in Cobourg and Grafton and places that mean a lot to us and share the experience with everybody,” said Derrick, who enjoyed a long NHL career with the Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars and Dallas Stars.

“The community has been big supporters of Blake. I’ve worked here for three years now at the golf course and every time people see me, they always ask how my boys – (Blake’s brother Dalton’s a left winger with AHL rival Hershey Bears) – are doing in hockey and we sit down and talk about it, so they all follow Blake (and) it’s fitting that we share the experience with them.”

Smith noted joining the Marlies this year was a relatively easy decision. The rugged 6-foot, 5-inch, 219-pound defenceman signed as a free agent with the Marlies after his overage season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Flint Firebirds.

“I had a couple of options and (Toronto) just seemed like the best fit for me. The development (program) they have there is unbelievable and the staff and what we have available to us.

“They put a lot of money into us achieving as much as we can, so that was the biggest selling point for me, and I couldn’t be more happy with my decision now.”

To say Smith made the most of his opportunity with the Marlies would be a vast understatement.

He came into last season as a free agent signing of the Maple Leafs after twice being overlooked in two successive NHL drafts. Undeterred, Smith made himself invaluable to the club as a stay-at home defenceman and fearless shot blocker in the Marlies’ zone.

Blake Smith, of the Calder-Cup-winning Toronto Marlies, signed plastic hockey sticks for a pair of fans during a stop-over with the cup at Creekside Golf in Grafton. /Alan Rivett photo

“Honestly, always keeping a good attitude,” said Smith, of the key to his successful season. “I went through the draft twice undrafted. I mean you can look at it two ways, you can get de-motivated by it or motivated by it, so I took the motivated route and started working even harder and believed in myself.

“I always knew I could play at the next level, and I knew I would get here and I was fortunate enough to sign with the Leafs and make it happen.”

Smith said he will remain in Cobourg to train for a couple weeks before heading back to Toronto in mid-August to start his training regimen at the Leaf’s training facility for a month before training camp begins.

“Obviously, I hope to have a good training camp and see what happens,” said Smith, who’s looking forward to working with new Marlies’ head coach and former NHLer Steve Sullivan.

Even after a successful season with the Marlies, his ultimate goal is to don a Toronto Maple Leafs’ jersey and bring the Stanley Cup back to Cobourg.

“Definitely that’s the goal,” said Smith. The (Calder Cup) is the first steppingstone and hopefully one day we can get a Stanley Cup in the trophy case.”