Parksville’s Brodie Smith is looking forward to the New Year, hoping that 2016 will see him find his way back to the B.C. Hockey League.
Smith, 18, has high hopes of returning to the Junior A BCHL after finding himself back with the Oceanside Generals of the Junior B Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. Smith was traded from the Cowichan Valley Capitals to the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs after spending one full season in the Cowichan Valley.
In total, Smith suited up for one game with the Bulldogs before he was sidelined by an injury. From there, Smith was sent back down to Junior B, where he now finds himself.
“It’s just another bump in the road,” Smith said. “You have to learn how to deal with things as you go along. I had an injury to deal with and the Bulldogs decided to send me back down to get healthy and get a few games in. Hopefully I can do enough to get a spot back on their roster before January 10th.”
Smith recently was called back up for two games before the Christmas break with the Bulldogs. Smith was then back in the Generals’ lineup for their final game before the Christmas break, against the Kerry Park Islanders, where Smith notched his seventh goal in six games with the Generals.
He has eight points in total since his return to the Junior B level, something he hopes to continue heading in to the New Year.
“The game comes to me a little easier here,” Smith said. “It’s not quite as quick as it is at the BCHL level, but I’m just trying to play the same way regardless of how fast or slow the pace of the game is where I’m playing. I just want to show that I can play at either level and that I have what it takes to play this kind of game at both levels.”
Coming back to the Generals might not have been something Smith had foreseen in his plans with the game of hockey, but it’s been a return that he’s enjoyed since getting back on the ice from his injury that got him here in the first place.
“It’s been nice to come back,” Smith said. “It’s a big difference with this organization, it’s turned in the right direction for sure. It’s nice to see the changes they’ve made there are making a difference and it’s really rubbing off on the team that’s on the ice.”
Whether or not he’s part of the Generals once the Jan. 10 deadline passes in the BCHL, Smith has high hopes for his current team.
“I think we’ve got a chance to finish well,” Smith said. “Having the team win the amount of games we did in the last little while, it’s been great to see. Comox Valley isn’t that far out of reach for us in the standings and I feel like we’ve got a real good shot at catching them before the season is over. I think that would be a huge thing for the Gens to be able to get out of fourth place in the North Division, because I feel this team is better than what our record shows.”
