IHL NEWS

"I'm Glad To Be Back"
The Miraculous Return of Orlando's Kevin Smyth
By Dave Strauss, Correspondent

The lights dimmed. The music started. Pyrotechnics, lasers, fireworks, and a guy in a white bear suit. Just another opening ceremony for the Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League. But this night, March 19, 1997, was different. As the inflatable bear rose in stature by the entrance to the Bears' locker room, the crowd of almost 7500 murmured in anticipation. The spotlight shone down on a single player, a 6'2" 217-pound left wing from Banff, Alberta. As he slowly made his way onto the ice, a roar came down from the fans. The PA announcer drew out the name. "Starting at left wing, number twenty... Kevvvvvvvinnnn Smmmmmyyyytttthhh..." As Kevin Smyth skated onto the ice, the spotlight followed him, and as the standing ovation continued for ten seconds, twenty seconds, half a minute, the announcer paused, and the crowd focused their adoration and appreciation on just one player.
Because, you see, it was less than three months since doctors told Kevin Smyth he would never play again.
Flash back to December 28, 1996. The Solar Bears are hosting the Indianapolis Ice. Smyth joins a second-period power play in his usual spot -- parked in front, creating traffic. The puck goes back to the point, a shot is taken...and then everything goes horribly wrong. The shot hits Smyth directly in the right eye, and everyone in the arena knows this isn't just another nasty cut. Smyth is taken off the ice and raced to the hospital in an ambulance. The prognosis isn't good: a detached retina for starters, and an eye socket filled with blood. Local sports talk shows stop discussing the Magic and their problems for a few days as the tragedy of Kevin Smyth takes precedence. There's no way, the doctors announce, that Smyth will ever play again.
Playing assistant coach Dave Barr, who was on the ice at the time, said, "Immediately, their defenseman, before Kevin could even fall down, started yelling for our trainer to get on the ice and I knew it was bad when I saw that."
Orlando head coach Curt Fraser said, "He went down, but he didn't go down. He was just bent over. Maybe he caught one high or something and it looked like maybe it could be a bad cut. But boy, when we got off the ice we got the news fast that it was much more serious than that."
Over the next several weeks, Smyth spent time in New York at the Columbia Medical Center, undergoing several surgeries under the hand of opthamalogic surgeon Dr. Stanley Chang. After successfully reattaching 40 percent of the detached retina, and repairing his fractured facial bones, the surgeons were confident that Kevin would see out of his right eye again. That part of the story hasn't resulted in a happy ending, however. After five operations, Smyth is still without sight in his right eye.
"With one eye you can't play in the NHL, and that was my dream," said Smyth. "But you know, I played there, I got a taste of that, so I guess if it never does happen again it won't be the end of the world. And yet I really think at this level with help from my teammates and my coaches I can be effective."
The Hartford Whalers originally drafted Smyth in the fourth round (79th overall) of the 1992 Draft. He played three seasons with Moose Jaw of the Western League, and played 58 career games in the NHL with the Whalers, scoring five goals and 13 points. His minor league career also includes 146 games with the AHL's Springfield Falcons, with totals of 54 goals and 136 points.
"Teams were following him around, looking at him," said Fraser. "He came here to use this year, to have a good season and then get picked up by another NHL team. And it was going to happen, no doubt."
He joined the Solar Bears at the start of this season and was fourth on the team in scoring at the time of his injury, with totals of 12-15-27 in 28 games. Although he was the youngest player on the roster, he had a +13 rating and had recorded three multi-goal contests and eight multi-point games. He even set a franchise record with four points in the second period of an October game against Long Beach.
And then the injury, and the assumption that his career was over. Certainly, he couldn't play with one eye, could he?
"The doctors say I'll be blind in that eye forever, so it's different out there," said Smyth. "I have to learn to move my head quicker and adapt. I can't remember when I saw the ice with two eyes. I obviously have a blind spot. It's amazing, with the one eye, I feel like I'm seeing out of two eyes. I can see everything, really. I just have to wait and see how I do."
Did he think that players would try and exploit his weakness? "It'll be pretty tough to exploit my weakness when I've got my Easton in their face," he chuckled. "Guys won't be taking it easy on me, and I won't take it easy on them. My duty is to create traffic up front, where the accident happened -- but with my [new full-size faceshield] it'd be pretty tough to get hurt now, so I'll still be in front pounding pucks in."
Flash back to the present, the night of March 19th. After missing 33 games due to the injury, Smyth has amazingly returned to the ice. "It was a very emotional game for me," he said after his first night. "It was tough to get back."
Smyth had originally been cleared to play by the doctors on March 3rd. "I wanted to be back ten days ago, but the coaches made the right decision for me. I'm glad for what they did -- hopefully I can keep it going and help the team."
"He loves being around the rink and loves being around the guys," teammate Pat Neaton said a few days before the comeback. "He loves the game of hockey. He's a grown man, but he has a lot of kid in him. He loves playing the sport. He's going to do whatever he can to get back, and be around the team. It's great, he's an inspiration for all of us."
Smyth took regular shifts in the first period, skating with center Mark Beaufait and right wing Bill Armstrong. He played somewhat tentatively at first, getting his legs back. He even registered an assist on Beaufait's second-period goal that brought the Bears back from a 3-1 deficit to a temporary 4-3 lead. The crowd roared with approval when the assist was announced. The visiting Cincinnati Cyclones, however, ruined the night with three unanswered goals en route to a 6-5 victory.
After the game, he was asked how he felt after missing so long. "My legs felt pretty good. I am pretty tired, though. I felt great the first two and a half periods, but winded in the third. It'll probably take me two to three games to get comfortable." The Bears were opening a stretch of five games in seven nights, so he was likely to get a lot of ice time to get back into shape. "It was kind of like a summer with three months off. These [remaining] thirteen games will hopefully help me get ready for the playoffs."
"I'm just trying to help this team win hockey games...I'm just glad to be back."