Warriors Honouring Ryan Smyth

Ryan Smyth will be joining a very special group in the Moose Jaw Warriors history book later this season.

On Tuesday, the Warriors organization announced that Smyth will have his number 28 retired by the team on February 6th, joining Kelly Buchberger, Mike Keane and Theoren Fleury as the only Warriors to have their numbers retired.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” Smyth told DiscoverMooseJaw.com. “It's very flattering and I'm looking forward to it. My wife Stacey is from there and that's where my career started, so it's pretty exciting.”

Smyth already holds a special place in Warriors' history, starring with the team for three seasons, but this will now cement his legacy as one of the greatest players to step on the ice in the Friendly City.

Larry Sentes, vice-president and alternate governor with the Warriors, said that Smyth is everything that it means to be a Warrior.

“He was one of those guys that wore his heart on his sleeve, played with his heart on his sleeve and he exemplifies what a true Warrior is,” said Sentes.

During his 188 regular season games with the Warriors, Smyth scored 110 goals, added 114 assists for 224 points, which has him 12th on the team's all-time scoring list. He's one of just ten Warriors to score 50 goals in a season when in 1993-94 he posted 50 goals and 105 points in 72 games.

“I never thought something like this would happen in a million years,” said Smyth. “It's quite honouring to hear that you've been recognized in some other capacity not with the NHL, but the lead up to the NHL. To be up there with the likes of Kelly Buchberger, Theoren Fleury and Mike Keane is very special for me too.”

Smyth was taken by the Warriors in the second round, 21st overall, of the 1991 WHL Bantam Draft. He would then go on to become the second highest drafted Warrior into the NHL, being selected by the Edmonton Oilers sixth overall in 1994.

He played 1,270 career games with the Oilers, New York Islanders, Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings before retiring after the 2013-14 season. He finished with 386 goals, 456 assists and 842 points.

Smyth said that playing in Moose Jaw prepared him for what was to come in the NHL.

“Coming into my third year (in the WHL) was the lock-out season and I played that whole year, which I'm thankful that I did because I gained that much more in confidence and in my ability in becoming an NHL player through my third year,” he said. “That was the best thing for me that third year (in Moose Jaw).”

During his rookie season with the Warriors, Smyth also got the chance to play with his brother Kevin, who actually has more points as a Warrior than Ryan. He said his brother played a big part in helping him transition from midget AAA to junior hockey.

“Like a lot of other kids, my older brother I looked up to,” Smyth said. “Me being there my first year as a rookie, he helped me along the way, so that really made things comfortable for me coming into the WHL.

“We actually lived together and just having him around and seeing what he went through the year before being a rookie, so the adjustment was a lot easier.”

There have been a lot of accomplishments for Smyth during his lengthy career in hockey, including earning the nickname “Captain Canada” due to his numerous times representing Canada on the international stage.

He won gold medals at the 1995 World Junior Championship, the 2002 Winter Olympics, the 2003 and 2004 World Championship and the 2004 World Cup. Smyth played 90 games for Hockey Canada and is the only player in hockey history to win gold at the Olympics, World Cup, World Championship, World Juniors and Spengler Cup.

Despite all that, Smyth said February 6th will be a day that ranks high on the list in his hockey career.

“As you grow older, you understand and realize what sort of sacrifices that you have to take and go through and this was one of them,” he said. “I left home at the age of 15 and being in the WHL at 16 years old, where your career kicks off and starts, it's where you look back and say, 'What great fond memories, in my personal life and my hockey life.”

Smyth will be on hand on February 6th when the Warriors take on the Spokane Chiefs and his jersey will be raised to the rafters during a pre-game ceremony that night.