Tuesday, October 23, 2007

 

Smytty

David Halberstam once referred to baseball as “the national binding myth.” That line can be applied with confidence to Hockey and Our Home and Native Land. Like baseball, hockey has a debatable origin story, dozens of historical events full of meaning and significance, as well as legendary players and characters that a nation has worshipped, vilified, and then told their descendants about. These moments and individuals are integral components of the Canadian fabric, as much a definer of our identity as two official languages, freezing winters, and a vast geography. Maybe even more. The Richard Riot. Kingston. Orr. Bobby Clarke’s teeth. Espo’s chastisement in ’72. Gretzky. Saturday night. Henderson has scored for Canada. Car…game on. The Three Stars. He shoots, he scores. Le but. The Gordie Howe hat-trick. Grapes. Zamboni. As Canadians, we know what each of these things mean. How they mean. We endow them with power by loading them with significance. Then they unite us. They are the ties that bind.

Which brings me to Ryan Smyth. Or as the entire country knows him, “Smytty.” I’ve thought long and hard about Smyth since he was traded to the New York Islanders on February 27th, 2007. Anyone who reads this site knows how little I cared for the trade, or the words uttered about him by Kevin Lowe, Pat LaForge, and far too may fans once he left town. Greedy. Not an elite player. Greedy. My feelings about such things have not changed. But that is neither here nor there, especially since I've moved past thinking about Smytty in that context. Lingering would drive me mad. Rather, I like to think about him as part of a bigger picture, within a grander context. I like to think about what Smytty means to me—what he signifies—and what I think he should mean and signify to all of us.

It is my own belief that Smytty is one of those key players, those legendary characters who tell our story and bind our nation. He matters to me, as he should to us all, a great deal. He matters because there are so few other professional players like him, and he matters because he is the most common man in our land. Thousands of Smytty’s exist throughout this country, and yet only one skates every night on NHL ice. He matters because he is the textbook definition, the Platonic Form, of “The Canadian Hockey Player.” What we know of him tells the tale.

The Local Boy: raised in Banff, Alberta; lifetime Oilers fan; run over by Glenn Anderson at a Team Canada training camp; drafted by his favorite team, for whom he would play for eleven and a half years.

The Number: 94.

Player Traits: hustle, skill and a child-like enthusiasm for the game; first guy on the ice at practice, last guy off.

Signature Moves: skating down the ice along the boards, going wide, then either staying along that track or swinging the stick over the head of the defenceman as he cuts back inside; in front of the net, poking, tipping, screening, driving the opposing goalie and defencemen insane.

The Look: mullet; missing teeth; more mullet.

The Moment: taking a puck to the face from teammate Chris Pronger in Game Three of the second round of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the Oilers down two games to none to the San Jose Sharks. Three teeth are knocked out, including one with the root. They are picked up and carried off by a linesman. He returns to the ice almost immediately, after getting stitched up. Plays twenty minutes of a forty-four minute overtime, eventually setting up the winning goal. The Oilers win the series in six.

The Interviews: gotta give 110% out there, hustle in the corners and hopefully the bounces will go our way.

The Patriot: Captain Canada. Seven World Championship appearances. Two gold medals, one silver medal. 2002 Olympics. Gold medal. 1995 World Junior Championships. Gold medal. 2004 World Cup of Hockey. Gold medal.


Smyth is still playing, of course. He hasn’t retired or passed on. But he’s a bit off the radar now, playing in Denver. He’s not on a Canadian team, or an American Original Six team, and as such now means less. Colorado, U.S.A is outside the myth-zone. Yet I can’t think of another current NHL player like him, a man who so perfectly epitomizes “The Canadian Hockey Player.” I don’t even think of him as a great player anymore, or a great character. I think of him as an ideal player, as an ideal character in the Great Canadian Hockey Story. And so, I think, should you. He wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. But he is the right now.


or...



I really, really miss my Smytty.

--
[Sacamano Appendix]

I hope Andy doesn't mind me adding some thoughts here, but I figured it would be better than having two posts on the same topic.

Andy already hit all the right buttons for me, so I'll just add by posting my Smytty Sonnet #94, written just after the trade and posted originally in the CinO thread "I've got 94 problems, but Smyth ain't one of them".

Smytty Sonnet #94

So crude we drilled his heart, and crude distilled
Flowed from his eyes, tempered and dilute.
His labour deemed unskilled, instead rebuild
With cheaper lubricant that won't pollute.

The Oilers' Brass elected to go green
With virgin teen unsoiled by stinking oil
To cap the well that burst them on the scene
Return the heartland to its prairie soil

So riches of the north go down in flame
While southern flames rise up like northern lights
Smyth's combustion heart enkindles shame,
Though primed and set, no broken hearts ignite.

But! Baptismal fonts flow with oil refined,
And so, with oil, is Smyth's rebirth entwined.


Comments:

Sigh.
 


Nice post.

Smytty also has the rare distinction of promising to bring the Cup back to the city he was just traded from.

Oh yeah, but I forget that he was all "crocodile tears" because he asked for too much and got burned, or something like that. Except that Lowe admitted that he made a mistake in trading Smyth back in June. Oops.

He better get a big ovation tonight or I'm packing in the blog business.
 


Terrific post Andy.
 


Excellent post, inspired. I think that Ryan Smyth represents for this generation of Oiler fan what the Mark Messier trade represented 15 years ago: descent into the abyss.
 


Excellent post, inspired. I think that Ryan Smyth represents for this generation of Oiler fan what the Mark Messier trade represented 15 years ago: descent into the abyss.

Nice analogy, but I doubt we're going to see 4 straight years out of the playoffs.

Including last year, 3 maximum. And if Lowe is smart, they're back in the "sweet sixteen" in spring 2009.
 


3 years in the crapper or 4 years, what's the difference?

The underlying point being that it's going to be ugly.

I'm not even convinced this team can rebound within the decade. The defence is fucked in my opinion. I'm not too optimistic about anything coming up the system any time soon or the gross dedication to the NEW number 44. Well on that topic, I might as well add that I don't garner a good feeling or a glimmer of hope from anying I've seen on the ice or read about Grebeshkov or Pitkanen.

Souray and Greene were the first option PK defensive unit for crying out loud!

What nearly pushes me over the edge is that for one million dollars more and three less draft picks in a deep draft, the Oilers could still have a bonafide hockey player in Ryan Smyth instead of that big, fat vortex wearing number 27.

I think Oilers forums regular bryanbroil, or whatever his name is, condensed it for me perfectly when he said every dream move of his came true for the Oilers this off-season.
 


Sorry, you guys are way off base. David Pratt has a very clever and well thought out column in the Vancouver Province today, where he makes a brand-new argument that I don't think anyone has ever addressed before:

Before the trading deadline, the Oilers offered Smyth a multi-year contract worth over $5 million a season.

The amount was not enough for him to keep playing for the team he grew up watching as a kid.

How do you explain that to a fan in that city driving a cab 10 hours a day making $35,000 a year? This summer, Smyth could have signed with any team in the NHL -- including the Oilers. Once again, money did all the talking.


You have to read the whole thing to experience the full Van City Snottery of the thing, but no doubt he speaks for his friend and employment advisor the $35k/yr cabbie when he says, "Treat Smyth like a stranger on a prison bus." (Not a simile I've ever used, but I'm not familiar with Pratt's, uh, record.)
 


Yes, I'm not a fan of the big, fat vortex myself.

And now Pitkanen is out. Christ.
 


Wonderful post Andy.
One thing that I've never seen mentioned, and I've never mentioned myself because it is small compared to the stupidity of that trade on a hockey level:

Smyth did a lot of work with the Stollery Children's hospital. A good friend of mine had a daughter with heart problems a couple of years ago, and I can tell you first hand that this is a heartbreaking place to visit. Hat's off to all the people that work there.

If I were a hockey player I'd rather volunteer to scrape up vomit at a homeless shelter. It just takes too much of an emotional toll to go through the Stollery, and I can't imagine any parent feeling differently.

Kids loved the guy, they may as well have just produced all the kid size Oiler jersey's with his name and number on the back, I doubt they sold anyone else's. Maybe it was the ridiculous haircut or the close set eyes, maybe the simple words he used to articulate himself. I dunno.

When I was a kid we would nearly come to punches over who got to be Guy LaFleur in a pickup hockey game at the local rink ... that once we'd decided who would be the Habs of course, we weren't idiots. We all just loved Guy. Smyth is that player for the kids in Edmonton.

94 was the only Oiler that my daughter recognized, and it broke her heart to see him crying on TV when he was traded. Hell, it used to upset her when he took a penalty and looked sad in the box. She churned out a lot drawings for me to send to him, to cheer him up. Most with sunshine, technicolor rainbows and families at to the zoo.

So I hope they do a terrific job with the tribute tonight. And I hope that Smyth composes himself. Anything more than a little misty would just be embarrassing for everyone.

Jesus, what the fuck were they thinking.
 


Nice one, Andy.
 


Next week, Andy's heartwrenching tribute to Number Eighty-Five, Petr Klima, and the heartbreaking trade that saw him go to Pittsburgh for the pick that would become Brad Symes.

Seriously, whether or not you think we should have caved into Smyth's demands is beyond the point right now. He's gone, no amount of sadness for our former one-time All-Star zero-time award winner is going to bring him back, and, unfortunately, it's time to move on.
 


Lord Bob, I'm sure you think you're all sage telling people "to move on" the night of Ryan Smyth's homecoming, but it also happens to be the night of Ryan Smyth's homecoming.

What are you expecting us to talk about about tonight? Dustin Penner? Our top pairing of Steve Staios and Matt Greene?
 


Zero time award winner!?!?!

It just dawned on me how much Smyth sucked this whole time.

I've been such a fool.
 


Lord Bob, I'm sure you think you're all sage telling people "to move on" the night of Ryan Smyth's homecoming, but it also happens to be the night of Ryan Smyth's homecoming.

What are you expecting us to talk about about tonight? Dustin Penner? Our top pairing of Steve Staios and Matt Greene?


I was hoping for something a bit less maudlin and a bit more sober, reflective, and relevant to today's Edmonton Oilers. Personally, I managed to dump most of my emotion when the guy was traded, even though I liked the trade at the time. I like it less today, and if I were at the game I'd cheer Smyth during the pre-game with everybody else, but come on, guys. It's been how long?
 


Lord Bob, why get upset about a post that was put up over ten hours ago? Get over it, man. Time to move on.
 


Lord Bob,

Don't come on here and be an ass just because you entirely missed the point of the post. I'm no longer interested in the blame game, and all you do is belittle yourself by continuing to engage in mud-slinging.

One thing that I've never seen mentioned, and I've never mentioned myself because it is small compared to the stupidity of that trade on a hockey level

Vic,

Thank you for your comments. In many ways, the point of my post was that the things you mention are in fact very large compared to the trade. I didn't want to focus on the business of hockey, and all the unfortunate things that come with it. Rather, I just wanted to focus on Ryan Smyth as a player and a character. As adults, we get wrapped up in the harsh realities of the sport, and sometimes it's nice to just let go and remember how we were as children, when we just knew it as a game.
 


Lord Bob, why get upset about a post that was put up over ten hours ago? Get over it, man. Time to move on.

I'm less upset about the post now, because that was genuinely amusing.
 


I’ll get over the Smyth trade when the team that traded him stops being a steaming pile of shit. Which, if miracles are real, should be about five years from now.
 


I was hoping for something a bit less maudlin and a bit more sober, reflective, and relevant to today's Edmonton Oilers.

I'm terribly sorry I didn't write what you felt. Funny how it works out that I write what I'm thinking about. There is an option for you, though. And it's free. It's called your own blog.
 


Lord Bob, did you like the Souray signing and the Penner deal? Did you cheer when you heard about the Vanek offer sheet (just imagine where this club would be if it had worked? Ouch.) Did you feel bad when you found out that the Nylander contract fell through? Last fall, did you think that Smid rocked and Jason Smith sucked (golly gosh darnit, you can be forgiven for that one, I mean Jim 'living legend' Matheson kept telling us so!)

Does it hurt you, or make you feel angry, when Dennis refers to the opinions of 'the dummies' ... and it turns out that the folks he's talking about have been crystallizing your thoughts perfectly.

Did you, in your heart of hearts, think Phoenix was going to be great with that lineup coming out of the lockout year?
 


I was hoping for something a bit less maudlin and a bit more sober, reflective, and relevant to today's Edmonton Oilers.

You mean like the sober reflections on tonight's game you put up over at your blog?

Was that a cheap shot? Sorry.

Sheesh, I know I'm a sentimental old fool, but it seems to me you've got the wrong end of the lumber when it comes to the "It's just a business" angle. It's Prom Night for crying out loud -- if we can't be maudlin now, what's the point of renting the Tux?
 


I'm going to try to take Bob's advice and make tonight's game a cathartic one, ridding myself of all the pent up rage I've amassed since the Smyth deal.

All I need for that to happen is have Smytty score 5 goals and elbow MacT while skating by the Oilers bench, leaving the coach with a severe case of amnesia and a nagging desire to go sockless in loafers in a warm weather climate. Immediately following the game the EIG has to fire Kevin Lowe and then announce the sale of the franchise to Darryl Katz. 15 minutes after the sale goes through a press release is issued that Cal Nichols wife has filed for divorce.

You know what? That does make me feel better.
 


Lord Bob, did you like the Souray signing and the Penner deal? Did you cheer when you heard about the Vanek offer sheet (just imagine where this club would be if it had worked? Ouch.) Did you feel bad when you found out that the Nylander contract fell through? Last fall, did you think that Smid rocked and Jason Smith sucked (golly gosh darnit, you can be forgiven for that one, I mean Jim 'living legend' Matheson kept telling us so!)

Does it hurt you, or make you feel angry, when Dennis refers to the opinions of 'the dummies' ... and it turns out that the folks he's talking about have been crystallizing your thoughts perfectly.

In this order: no, yes, no, no, I did like Smid but I liked Smith more, though I feel that Pitkanen was worth giving Gator up for.

I'm not entirely clear why saying "get over it" implies that my head is currently buried in Cal Nichols's groin. While I admit that I am an idiot, my idiocy is entirely my own and does not consist of reciting the Edmonton Journal's sports section verbatim.

That said, I am well-inclined to drop the subject, since I've seemingly hit a raw nerve with a few people and I'd rather not continue to be a huge cock.

(Well, except for one thing.)

You mean like the sober reflections on tonight's game you put up over at your blog?

Not a cheap shot at all, since that means that somebody actually looked at my blog today, and that fills me with a warm feeling inside. Even if my most recent post is about the recent Battle of Hastings and how it impacts the Oil's playoff chances.
 


Slipper:

Me too, I've seen the errors of my ways.

I'm going to start an emailing campaign to get all Oiler fans in attendance tonight to cheer. Beautiful cheers.

1. During the Smyth ceremony I want all activities on the ice to be drowned out by chants of "Lowe is a Genius!".

2. 1st period: 10 minutes solid Pennnnnnn-er

3. 2nd period: non-stop "There's only one Sheldon Souray". Sung to the tune of "There's only one Brian Robson".

4. 3rd period: Chant "We're just unlucky". Really get a hold of this one, folks, it's going to be the theme for the season.
 


And if Lowe is smart

I'll just let that hang there.. Not an Oiler fan, but it damn near took all my concentration not to like Smyth. The night he lost his chicklets is a seminal moment, certainly in Oilers history (that rich platter; damn you) and as Andy laid out probably in Canadian sport history as well. Smyth personifies all the qualities that we like to think we possess ourselves; a certain honesty, straightforwardness, bravery, fairness, loyalty.

I guess its a cliche, but I didn't realize until I saw Smyth on the TV yesterday how emotional he still is about Edmonton that brings the lump to my throat. Its not that the Oilers lost their soul, its that it had to be wrenched from the body, spat on and punted out of sight, and yet still bleeds for its former home that rankles.
 


I just read that Pratt article. Forget about the Smyth stuff. The stuff about Edmonton is just full of venom.

Edmonton is a great place to live -- if you enjoy duct tape, frostbite and Darlene's Trucker Eats. But for the other six billion of us on the planet, it's a little difficult to understand why anyone would break down in tears upon hearing the news that they've just been handed a ticket out of "Purgatory North."

Perhaps Smyth got emotional when he suddenly realized he was leaving the only NHL city where a mullet is still considered a fashion statement.

How do you explain that to a fan in that city driving a cab 10 hours a day making $35,000 a year?


What a clueless idiot.
 


Btw Andy: nice pic with this post.

Beautiful.
 


Solid post. And an entertaining comments section today.

This will sound like a backhanded compliment (I don't mean it that way), but for me an 'iconic' Smytty attribute was that he exemplified effort more than talent. This makes him the mirror image of an iconic Russian player.

He's been a very productive hockey player, and boy does he have guts. But I don't think his success derived from an elite level of natural talent -- more like an average talent level coupled with an extraordinary determination.
 


Agreed avi.

And that is what accounts for why he has attained the status that he has - the effort. When I step on the ice I could never imagine myself as Joe Sakic but I could imagine myself as (and emulate) Ryan Smyth.

Working, mucking it up, going hard to the net, ugly goals.
He is Everyman as professional hockey player.
 


When I step on the ice I could never imagine myself as Joe Sakic but I could imagine myself as (and emulate) Ryan Smyth.

Exactly.

Btw Andy: nice pic with this post.

Beautiful.


That is all Aaron Paquette. I asked him if he would draw something for me, and he kindly agreed. It should have been up when I first posted, but we got our signals crossed. I love it. Thanks, Aaron!
 


So I hope they do a terrific job with the tribute tonight. And I hope that Smyth composes himself. Anything more than a little misty would just be embarrassing for everyone.

I'd bet on the flood of tears. These are just the A, B, C's of Smytty. He is what he is.

Incidentally, my money is on the thing that gets to him not being the video but the reaction that he gets from the fans. Times like this, I wish he had a little Roger Clemens in him. Clemens' return to Fenway, striking out 16 and giving a fuck you to the owner's box on his way out the door was great theatre.
 


The Pratt piece in the Province is completely indicative of the Vancouver mindset: we're better than everyone else and so is our city.

Garon is going to be busy tonight...
 


Incidentally, my money is on the thing that gets to him not being the video but the reaction that he gets from the fans.

Bingo!

Nice call, Tyler.
 


Nice work Andy. I wish you'd get into the fray more often. But I look forward to your next EIG/Arena ass whuppin'.

I maintain that the Oilers would have got the deal done with Smyth in plenty of time and with enough cash if he was really in their plans (and I use the word plans and Oilers loosely in the same sentence). Smyth knew the way the wind was blowing with the youth movement (he admitted as much the last few days), so he moved on. And given that he'll be selling used cars 5 years after he retires, good on him for getting the best deal he could. Any one of us would have done the same thing.

He was certainly our heart and soul. I always thought he embodied Oilers hockey at its gritty finest in the post dynasty age. But we've never been a team for single team career players. Its just never gonna happen. Gretzky showed us all how it goes in a small market. You'd think we'd be used to it by now.

But yeah. It still hurts.
 


amazing how much that drawing of the old Inuit woman looks like Ryan Smyth.
 


Because that was totally called for, Oilman.
 


a little levity doogie....a little levity
 

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