Edmonton’s 'battler' Mike Smith writing compelling Battle of Alberta story

Mike Smith is a man of a few absolute truths.

You can almost set your watch to one of them for the Edmonton Oilers netminder, at least in these 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Every five games or so, Smith makes a monumental mistake – not a routine single or double, but he gives up a jaw-dropping, upper-deck grand slam.

In Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings, it was the pizza served up the middle by one of hockey’s best puck-handling goaltenders of all-time.

In Game 1 against the Calgary Flames, Smith was wearing a ballcap on the bench just six minutes in after allowing three goals on nine shots, including two in the first 51 seconds.

And then there was Game 4 on Tuesday night, when Rasmus Andersson’s clearing attempt hit the twine from 132 feet away, to the shock of Smith and Rogers Place.

If that is true, then these are also Smith’s truths:

1) The 40-year-old Smith is writing one of the most compelling stories of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

2) Smith has unquestionably been the better goalie in the Battle of Alberta, going toe-to-toe with Vezina Trophy finalist Jacob Markstrom.

There is also no question that Smith has squeezed every drop of motivation out of this matchup, against his former team, against the goaltender that the Oilers attempted to sign ahead of him in free agency in 2020. He feeds off it like a shark smells blood.

Remember when Smith was asked last spring whether he took any extra satisfaction out of putting the final nail in the Flames’ playoff hopes?

“Yup,” Smith responded, with a bleep-eating grin.

“To say Mike Smith is very competitive, that’s probably an understatement,” friend and former partner Marty Turco told me last year. “He will use any motivation he can find. He loves to prove people wrong.”

Smith has also proven a few things false.

Like the Dallas Stars thinking it was a good idea to take Jason Bacashihua four rounds ahead of him in the same draft in 2001. Or that Smith’s wiry, 6-foot-5 body couldn’t hold up to the rigors of the NHL anymore. Or that his 40-year-old self was tired to start this series.

He’s been able to flush it all – all of the doubt, all of the criticism, all of the mistakes.

“It resonates with the group,” said coach Jay Woodcroft Wednesday. “He’s a true pro, someone who can shrug off maybe one that he’d want to have back. [Andersson’s goal] is just one of those unique plays that happens, sometimes it happens at this time of year.

“What I liked about it was how we stuck together and held through a stormy sea.”

Simply put, “Schmiddy” battles. You can almost hear Dave Tippett saying his name that way, too.