Gloucester Alumni

By Matt Langone, Sports Editor Glouceter Daily Times

The 2010 Winter Olympics officially kicked off last night in Vancouver, British Columbia. Not present at the opening ceremonies was Gloucester's Ben Smith.

For the first time since the 1994 winter games in Lillehammer, Norway, Smith will be watching the Winter Olympics from the comfort of his Gloucester home.

Smith coached the U.S. Olympic Women's Hockey Team in 1998, 2002 and 2006, leading Team USA to the first ever gold medal in women's hockey in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. He also led the team to a silver in 2002 at Salt Lake City and a bronze in 2006 in Turin, Italy. In the summer following the 2006 Winter Olympics, Smith stepped away from his head coaching position, but has remained with USA Hockey as a National Team Advisor ever since.

The 64-year-old Smith jokes that his current role with USA Hockey is to be a "super fan." However, it's much more than that. He is heavily involved with the coordination of the player pool for not only the women's Olympic team, but also for amateur teams such as the under-20 men's team. He also helps select the final rosters, traveling around the country scouting and analyzing talent.

Smith says he plans on watching every Olympic hockey game possible, both men's and women's. And he's happy to do so from his living room.

"People see me in Gloucester and ask why I'm not in Vancouver," said Smith. "I was invited up there, but it's a different time right now. I'll be happy watching on television, and ducking the pressures of coaching and being there. I'm excited for the games to start, and I really enjoy what I'm doing now."

Mark Johnson, who was the leading scorer for USA's gold medal-winning 1980 Miracle on Ice team, is Smith's replacement as head coach of the women's team. He undoubtedly will have his work cut out to continue the same excellence in coaching that Smith brought to the organization.

"When we hired Ben Smith as our first-ever full-time women's national team coach in 1996, it was clearly the right thing to do," said Dave Ogrean, the executive director of USA Hockey, in a statement released in the summer of 2006. "Ben did an absolutely terrific job in taking us to three Olympic hockey medals. Thanks to the efforts of Ben Smith and others, girls and women's hockey in our country has grown significantly."

Smith believes Johnson is up to the challenge.

"Mark is definitely a player's coach and the players will love to play for him," he said. "He won't get rattled in any situation."

Smith was an outstanding player in his own right at both Gloucester High School and Harvard University. He scored 109 points during his time at GHS from 1960 to 1964. He then went on to be an All-Ivy League player at Harvard, playing both forward and defense.

He coached on the legendary Jack Parker's staff at Boston University in the 1980's and also coached at the World Junior level for three years before getting an opportunity to coach the USA's 1988 Olympic Men's Hockey Team. The team did not medal and it was the last year that USA roster spots were limited to just amateurs, but future NHL greats Mike Richter and Brian Leetch were among the big names on the squad.

"I watched the Olympics from the 1960's through the 1980's and longed for the days that the best players in the world would be selected whether they were amateurs or not," said Smith. "I'm excited now that the best players in the world are all involved."

Smith then coached at Northeastern University in the early to mid-1990's. In 1995, he was asked by Ogrean to take a group of 40 women's hockey players to Lake Placid, N.Y. to help with the development of the USA women's hockey program. From that group, a team of 20 was selected for international competition.

Fifteen years later, Smith has three Olympic medals.

Canada and the U.S. have met in all 12 women's hockey world championship finals, and are the two favorites to compete for a gold in Vancouver. Smith says Finland and Sweden should also contend for a medal. It all comes down to goaltending.

"The thing about women's hockey is that the goaltenders are way ahead of the scorers," said Smith. "Sweden and Finland have goalies that can beat you. But I think we are as strong as anyone in net and I like our poise and experience on defense, and our scoring depth."

Although women's hockey is certainly a physical sport, there is no checking allowed. Smith says the point of emphasis is on puck control and smart play.

"This is women's hockey at the highest level," said Smith. "There is no nonsense. If you ask them to jump, they ask how high. It is very fun and exciting to watch."

On the men's side, Smith believes the U.S. will have to fight for a medal with Russia, Canada, the Czech Republic and Sweden. With such an NHL influence on Olympic men's hockey, Smith enjoys the fact that players who may be stuck in obscurity in the NHL can flourish in international competition as they are surrounded by great players.

He may be over 3,000 miles away from Vancouver, but it's as if Smith is still right there.