Ryan Smith and Mark Lamb have a deep connection as opposing WHL head coaches in the Prince George Cougars-Spokane Chiefs series.
Back in the summer of 2014, while Lamb was in the process putting together the pieces of a championship-calibre Swift Current Broncos team as their head coach and general manager he hired Smith for his first WHL coaching job.
Now Lamb has the reins as Cougars head coach and GM with Smith on the Spokane side, taking aim at the Western Conference regular season champions.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series starts tonight at 7 at CN Centre.
“It’s special to me, Mark was the one who hired me in this league in Swift Current out of junior A almost 10 years ago and I don’t forget about that,” said Smith. “It’s not an easy league to get into, there’s only a certain amount of guys that get jobs and Mark gave me that opportunity and taught me a lot.
“We’ve continued our friendship and I’ve talked to him over the years about coaching and situations and we always have good conversations. He’s honest and a good hockey man and we’ve had a lot of laughs together. I look forward to talking to Mark after the series is over.”
Smith, 50, got into coaching in 2008 in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League while Lamb was in his seventh NHL season as an assistant with the Dallas Stars. Lamb moved to Swift Current the following season and years later hired Smith from the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatcjewan Junior Hockey League. They worked two seasons together until Lamb left for Tucson in 2016.
“He did a lot of good things (in Swift Current) after I was gone and got more responsibility and they won a championship,” said Lamb. “He’s a smart coach that’s a players’ coach that has a lot to offer.
“He’s a real good guy and I was happy for him to get a head coaching job because that’s what he’s been working for. We won’t be best friends (during the series), that’s for sure.”
In 2018-19, while Lamb was getting settled in Prince George, Smith started a two-year term as associate coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, then came to Spokane in 2020 during the pandemic. After two seasons he was bumped up from associate to head coach in July 2022 to replace former Prince George Spruce Kings head coach Adam Maglio.
“Mark got a chance to go to the American League, but he had a big part to do with the (Broncos) team that ended up winning it a couple years later,” said Smith. “He obviously made some trades and drafted some players.
“His teams are always good, always play hard and it’ll be a great to go up against him. It’s as good as it gets on their bench, with Mark and Jim (Playfair), and they’re going to have their team ready. They’ve slowly built this team through drafts, a few smart trades and free agency and that’s how you have to do. There’s no magic to it, you have to have patience and they have some young guys now that are starting to turn the corner and they’re reaping the benefits of that with a really strong season on top of the league.”
The Cougars finished first in the West, 36 points ahead of the eighth-place Chiefs and Prince George is the odds-on favourite to win the best-of-seven series. Ever since it became apparent they would be matched with the Cougars in playoffs, Smith and his associates, Stefan Legein and Dustin Donaghy have been cooking up a plan to contain an explosive team that averaged 4.65 goals per game, second only to Portland in the WHL.
“They’re very offensive-minded with 100-point scorers up and down their lineup so we’re looking forward to that challenge and believe the series will be won on the defensive side and who can defend better against the other team’s attack,” said Smith.
“We had a good season series against them, we beat them twice and they beat us twice and we were in Prince George a little under a month ago and had two good games against them. I wouldn’t say we’re overconfident, but we know we can play good games against the Cougars.”
