Transition was smooth for Smith

It’s almost like Dylan Smith never left.

Smith led the Estevan Bruins in goals (37) and points (74) during the 201112 SJHL season to finish eighth in the league’s scoring race, but the 20-yearold product of Big River left Estevan in the off-season to join the Connecticut Oilers of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.

However, after spending the first half of the 201213 season with the Oilers, Smith decided to return to Estevan — and he has picked up where he left off.

In eight games since his return, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound right winger has 11 points, including five goals, and already is 10th in team scoring.

“I’m not really surprised,” Smith said Thursday when asked about his production.

“I’m not going to say I expected to come in and put up two points a game, but I expected to contribute right away.

“I’ve got to credit (linemates) Cole Olson and Alex Cote, who are easy to play with, but it’s also (a result of) my familiarity with the league, the players and the teams in the league.

“With all my time in the league, I know teams’ systems and how they play. That’s kind of my way of playing. I think the game more than I play it, so that has really helped.”

Smith, who made his debut with the Bruins in the 2009-10 season, put up 167 points, including 79 goals, in 154 regular- season games through his first three seasons in Estevan.

After the 2011-12 season, Smith decided to move to the EJHL with an eye on another move down the line.

“It was about exposure,” he said. “NCAA schools (in the eastern U.S.) don’t come out here. There’s this idea that we’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s hard for them to come here.”

As well, he was eager to work with skating coach Eric Lind — who’s also the Oilers’ head coach — so Smith made the jump.

“The leagues are very similar,” he said.

“(The EJHL) is maybe a little bit faster (than the SJHL), but it’s not as physical. The SJ is maybe deeper, too.

“(The EJHL) may be younger, but there were a lot of good players there.”

Smith had 13 goals and 28 points in 25 regular-season games with the Oilers, but also appeared in front of college scouts at a number of tournaments.

He said Thursday he has “quite a few options” as far as university offers for next season, all because of his time in Connecticut.

But midway through the season, Smith pondered a return to Estevan and reportedly spoke to some of his former Bruins teammates about it.

He admitted Thursday he hoped to be on a team that was going to the playoffs — and the expansion Oilers didn’t fit the bill. Because he already had received the exposure to NCAA schools he was after, he was willing to return to the SJHL.

“It was tough to leave Estevan in the first place, but I had made a commitment and I wasn’t going to look back,” Smith said. “Then I looked back anyway.”

After Smith approached the Bruins about a possible return, they regained his rights at the Jan. 10 trading deadline for a transfer fee.

“When we went into the deadline, the idea was to add scoring to our lineup,” said Bruins head coachGM Keith Cassidy, who noted he didn’t hesitate in adding Smith even though the player previously had left the organization.

“Finding ( available) scoring in our league through a trade was pretty much next to impossible. Dylan’s a proven scorer in the SJHL, so when we had an opportunity to add him without giving up a player, that was good.”

Smith was to join the Bruins for their game Jan. 11 in North Battleford, but that contest was postponed.

He instead made his debut Jan. 12 in Kindersley — and sniped in the Bruins’ 4-3 loss to the Klippers.

His familiarity with the league and his teammates helped him overcome a lack of practices as well as legs that were stiff from travelling. Since then, his chemistry with Olson — one of his linemates last season — has helped Smith produce.

“He came back and fit in seamlessly on a line with Olson,” Cassidy said. “His first game, it was like he never missed a beat — and he has kept it going.”

ihamilton@leaderpost.com