Cody Smith accused of "slacking" by Wranglers teammates & coaches.

[cody73 87]

Seen as a late round steal after his terrific campaign in Mississauga, expectations were pretty high for Cody Smith. The young left winger, seen as a prolific sniper with a two-way edge, had been key to that teams success, racking up a multitude of goals & points as the Hounds inaugural captain. However, so far in Calgary, things haven't gone swimmingly. In 28 games with the Wranglers, the young rookie has amassed just six points, only one of which has been a goal. For a guy known for his shot, this has been seen as concerning, as well as his habits off the ice. Never known as the fittest player on the planet, Smith has seemingly opted to eat his feelings as of late, using his contract money on fast food quite often. In addition, he's seemed disengaged during practices, almost as if he's depressed or suffering from burn out. Not much is known as to what could jump start this players engines again, but it's definitely worrying. The biggest fear out of this is that Smith could be seen as exposable come the next VHL Expansion Draft, and while that might be the kick in the butt this player needs,  Smith has been very insistent on staying in Calgary if he can, going as far as improving his puck handling and trying to up his defensive positioning so he could play on the blue line in the future if it came to making room for other players. The kid is saying all the right things to the media as well, responding with this after the teams rough overtime loss to the Vancouver Wolves:

"I need to be better. Eat better. Practice more. Commit myself again. I've been lazy way too much this year, and it's not healthy. It's hurting my team, it's hurting my line, and it's hurting my offence. I think I know what I can do to get past this, but I need the backing of my team. I'm not sure if I have that, and that's what scares me more than anything. Having to join what would be my fourth team in four years.... there's been no consistency in my life and I was hoping to have a home here. To find out you could be left exposed and packing your bags once again.... it's just rough. I never expected to be a journeyman so early in my career, if it does come to that. But what I do know is that whatever happens, I'll hopefully be a key component to a team."

As much as it's nice to know Cody can say the right things, actions are always louder than words, and he needs to showcase that's it's not all talk. The main thing for Smith is to get back to practicing more and getting in better shape, which should hopefully up his speed,  which has always been his one glaring weakness. He could also choose to fine tune his shot a bit more to see if making a tweak or two would help him find the net more. But it all comes down to wanting it, and so far Smith's heading in the right direction. Only time will tell. 


 

[Dil 1,744]

@cody73 stop slacking and writing silly articles.  Back to practice nub