In what has become an annual rite of passage in the Summer for the Kelowna Rockets lately, they hired a new head coach. This time, they raided the Ottawa Senators coaching staff and named Jason Smith as the guy to lead the Rockets. Since Ryan Huska was whisked away by the then-Adirondack Flames of the AHL in 2014 (they since moved the AHL affiliate to Stockton, CA to become Heat while Adirondack welcomed the ECHL), the Rockets will have gone through three head coaches once Smith coaches his first game. Dan Lambert was picked to replace Huska for the 2014-15 season, and he led them to an Ed Chynoweth Trophy and within a goal of the Memorial Cup that season. However, the Buffalo Sabres came calling and he took a job as an assistant coach there. Stepping into his place for the 2015-16 season was Brad Ralph, who had the most head coaching experience of the three, having previously coached with Idaho of the ECHL. Despite reaching the century-mark in points for the season and reaching the Conference Finals for the third straight year, the Rockets and Ralph were never exactly on the same page and they decided to mutually part ways.
Smith played his junior hockey in Regina and was the first round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1991. He would go on to play in the NHL with the Devils, Toronto, Edmonton, Philadelphia, and Ottawa. He is also known as the longest-serving captain of the Oilers, as well as being a captain of the Flyers in his only year there.
As a former defender, Smith is walking into a job where defensemen regularly make an impact in the NHL, which should be to his advantage. However, his experience in a coaching capacity is largely limited to two seasons as an assistant head coach, with time on the scouting and player development staff coming before that. He will have Kris Mallette and Travis Crickard on the staff as assistant coaches, and both having been on the last two Rockets teams to make the Conference Finals should help Smith as he makes the leap to the head coaching ranks.
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