Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes begins his road to recovery with a solid performance in preseason play.
One of the biggest questions coming in to the 2015-2016 NHL season for the Arizona Coyotes is centered around goaltender Mike Smith. Its no secret that last season was an interesting one for Smith. Ever since his emergence in 2012, the Arizona Coyotes goaltender has seemed to slightly go downhill with his performance. The Mike Smith we all knew in the 2012 playoffs is certainly not the same one we know today.
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The Arizona Coyotes desperately need Mike Smith to return to form this year. Even though the defensive core for the team has weakened throughout the years and the offense is nestled toward the bottom of the league, the goaltending for the Coyotes is not what it used to be.
It is easy to shed away Smith’s 14-42-5 record last season by blaming the offense for not scoring. However, it is hard for him to share the blame for his 3.16 GAA and .904 SV%.
Mike Smith was determined to make those a numbers a distant memory. The Arizona Coyotes goaltender began to make changes to his offseason routine in order to prepare for October. Smith worked one on one with the new goaltending coach, Jon Elkin in Toronto earlier this summer to get back to the fundamentals of the position. Elkin and Smith have a long history together (22 years to be exact) that will prove to be useful moving forward.
Jon Elkin had this to say about Mike Smith:
"“Mike Smith is the greatest goaltender I have coached and I have coached some big name goaltenders. I say this, not because he is the most talented, but because he has done more with his natural ability than any one else I have ever come across. Talent and potential in a player is great, but passion, heart and determination can be far better precursors to success. Just ask Mike Smith.”"
Mike Smith’s offseason training was finally put to the test on September 28th. In a preseason match-up between the Vancouver Canucks, Mike Smith showed the team that he was a different goaltender.
In the highlights above, Mike Smith makes numerous stops to keep his team in this game. While this is a preseason match-up, this game provides fans an insight on what to expect this season regarding Smith. The lone goal against him this game was a beautiful wrist-shot by Jared McCann on the power-play, that was partially screened by Zbynek Michalek.
Mike Smith finished the game with a .958 save percentage by stopping 23 of 24 shots against him. While Smith is credited with the loss, he looked solid between the pipes. If this is any indication of the Mike Smith that we will see this year, Coyotes fans can rest easy.
Smith is expected to start in the preseason finale tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
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