CARDIFF, UK – It’s 1990 and the sell-out Wembley Arena crowd are on their feet. They have watched one of the most exciting games in British Ice Hockey history along with a primetime television audience on BBC 1.
Murrayfield Racers and Cardiff Devils have played out a Premier League Play-Off final tied at 5-5 in regulation time and put their fans through sudden death overtime and an incredible 23 penalty shots between them.
Despite his tender years, Murrayfield forward Tony Hand is already a British hockey legend as he skates down the ice knowing that he must score to keep his team in the game and the emotionally drained Wembley crowd in their seats a little while longer.
Hand skates quickly to the left then moves back towards the centre and takes a quick snapshot but Devils goalie Jeff Smith is already diving to his right hand post. The puck bounces off his pads and away from danger. Hand slams his stick off the cross bar in frustration as a grinning Smith sinks to his knees, takes off his helmet and waits for the inevitable crush of his team mates piling on his frame in celebration.
The moment marked the end of an amazing campaign for Smith personally as he was selected on the league All-Star team and received a call up to the Great Britain squad to boot.
Edmonton Oilers draft Hand went on to enjoy a long career in the game as a player and a coach and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame earlier this year. However in contrast Smith hung up his pads just five years later after spells at Basingstoke and Swindon at the age of 31.
‘I realised my business was going to replace hockey as a revenue source so decided to retire and dedicate myself to it, rather than playing a lower standard of hockey until I was put out to pasture’ admitted the London born former stopper.
‘I retired quite early, but wanted to be in control of my destiny. I always looked at my time in hockey as a fantastic chapter, and the next chapter was filled with building my business and learning to skydive, which replaced the adrenaline rush that I definitely did miss.’
‘I know a lot of guys missed the sport tremendously when they retired, but I put other things into my life to give me a focus.’
This focus was later sharpened by the sad passing of Smith’s former team mate Gary ‘Moose’ Cloonan whom he played with at Streatham in South London before his move to Cardiff. Smith was best man at Cloonan’s wedding, stayed good friends after they both left Streatham and was deeply affected when the 6’ 6” defenseman passed away due to cancer in 2007.
Smith set up the not-for profit company bigmoose with a vision to ‘leave the world better than we found it’ and thus began a journey to inspire people to live better, healthier, kinder lives as a legacy to his old team-mate.
So while Tony Hand was deservedly receiving his IIHF induction in Cologne on May 21st this year with the great and good of international hockey, Smith was at the base camp of Mount Everest in the Himalayas awaiting a summit attempt.
Just a few days later and at the age of 53, the Devils Wembley hero made it to the top of the fabled mountain to mark another milestone in his incredible adventures that have followed since leaving the crease for the last time.
‘It was actually tougher than I expected and was the toughest thing I have ever done. It was also the closest I have ever come to quitting’ admitted Smith, who is now settled in the Welsh capital with his family.
‘Fortunately I pushed through and believed in myself. Getting to the top was very much a relief and very emotional, as the culmination of so much preparation, and hard work to get there, not just by me, but everybody supporting back home’
‘I was so happy as I knew they would be, and since returning, I have become even more aware of the effect it has had on my friends, family, and even people I have never met, but who followed the journey on social media.’
Summiting Everest is literally a life or death challenge and Smith built up to the task with summits of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Elbrus in Russia and Manaslu in Nepal amongst others. His past experiences on the ice (rink) also stood him in good stead for those achievements, and also his success on Everest.
‘There is no doubt hockey has made me the person I am today’ explained Smith, who had two major knee operations as a result of his netminding exploits.
‘It has a number of similarities with the mountain climbing, not least team work. When our guide Russell Brice announced we were leaving for our Everest summit attempt at lunch time, I was very much like ‘it’s game time’ and was absolutely amped to get going’
‘I remember thinking it was just like pre game nerves, which I absolutely loved and my senses were so heightened, weird huh?’
Smith’s love affair with the sport ironically started where it would peak, at Wembley, where as a boy when he went along with his Uncles to watch the new London Lions team in the early seventies. The team were formed by Detroit Red Wings owner Bruce Norris as part of his grand plans to start a professional hockey league in Europe.
That project (and most since in the UK capital) didn’t quite take off; however a ten year old Jeff Smith started playing at the Sobell Centre in North London as a left winger. He then switched to goalie, signed up for Streatham Redskins in the old Heineken League as a fresh faced teenager and the rest, as they say, is history.
‘I made some great friends at Streatham, who I am still very close to today, and I learnt a lot about myself’ said Smith, of his time with Moose in South London.
‘I was very competitive and it surfaced at Streatham, resulting in us scraping into the Play-Offs one year, and then beating the league champions Durham Wasps in their own sandbox 9-2’
‘We needed to get a result on home ice and tied 5-5 to take us to the Wembley finals, and left their fans open mouthed at what happened. I think I grew up as a person at Streatham.’
Smith’s fond memories in South London would shape his life further down the track but his time at Cardiff was obviously the pinnacle of his career. Comparing reaching the highest point in British hockey versus the highest point on earth is a question no one else but Smith can answer (as far as our research tells us). So which felt better?
‘There was immense pressure on me in that Play-Off final but we managed to win, so that was the best thing ever’ admitted Smith.
‘But I have thought long and hard about it, and since getting back from Nepal, Everest has actually just pipped it. I think the hard work that went into the climb, the risk of serious injury, and even death, has made the challenge the biggest thing I have ever done, but I still loved winning at Wembley and we had a fantastic team, actually maybe they are tied in first place.’
So with a remarkable life already lived at 53 years old. The obvious question is what comes next for Jeff Smith and bigmoose. Strapping on the pads is a non-starter with those knees and the long hockey hair is also gone, plus he can’t really get any higher than Everest without going into Space. Unsurprisingly Smith is still bubbling with enthusiasm and has big plans ahead including a series of public speaking events.
‘I am going to have a rest, spend some quality time with my family and friends and have a party next weekend where I am going to be hugging a lot of people and probably shed a few tears of relief I think.’
‘Then we are going to spread the word of our Everest adventure to continue our journey around schools presenting to children, encouraging them to follow their dreams, work hard, and never ever give up, hoping to inspire them in some way.’
‘I am very lucky to have such amazing opportunity to do this kind of thing and regarding bigmoose, we are in the process of opening a bigmoose coffee shop.’
‘Profits from the coffee shop will go towards training homeless people in Cardiff, then employing them, and hopefully mentoring them, trying to change their lives. It’s all very exciting and we are happy to speak to people who want to get involved.’
If you want more information on bigmoose click here. To read Jeff’s incredible Everest blog and more about the trip click here.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.