Mason Smith has been very well travelled as he continues his hockey journey, a journey that he hopes one day will lead to him playing Division 1 hockey in the United States.
Born in Rochester, New York, Smith played U15 hockey in Grande Prairie before moving to Edmonton to play prep hockey. Then he moved to Abbotsford to play with the Pilots in the Pacific Junior Hockey League. He played 77 games with them and recorded 50 points, 20 of which were goals.
Then he made his way to the prairies as he joined the Estevan Bruins of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League but his tenure was short there as he played just 13 games with them before being traded to the Portage Terriers. He scored eight times and had 12 points with Portage before he was acquired by Dauphin in the off-season. Now he’s coming off his biggest game as a King and he’s enjoying every second of being in Dauphin.
“Dauphin has been very good to me so far,” said Smith. “The rink is awesome, I think we have the best rink in the league. The community is smaller so I’ve had a good chance to get to know a lot of people as well.”
Entering Monday’s game against Waywayseecappo, Smith was stuck on three goals after 16 games but his 17th game was his biggest as he recorded his first hat-trick with his new team in a 5-0 win. Mason now has six goals and eight assists with Dauphin as he continues to find his stride and it appears that he has. In the last 10 games, Smith has five goals and five assists.
“It feels good to get things going offensively here,” said Smith. “I’ve had a ton of chances but I was struggling to find the back of the net so it’s nice that I’m starting to get things going.”
The “Hat-Trick” man. Big night from Mason Smith, here he is post game! pic.twitter.com/BiSzpqE9Xp
— Dauphin Kings (@dauphinkings) November 1, 2022
Dauphin has been on a roll as of late. The team has won four of their last five games and they’re 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Next up for the club is a weekend home-and-home with the Selkirk Steelers starting on Friday in Dauphin. Fan support is what junior players love and Mason is looking forward to seeing you down at the rink on Friday.
“We believe it’s going to be a great year, we have a lot to prove,” said Smith. “The team was great last year and our goal is to continue with that momentum and go back-to-back.”
A fun fact about Mason is he played with Mathew Rathbone at the Arctic Winter Games in Nunavut and the team won a gold medal. Rathbone won the Turnbull Cup with Dauphin last year and is now playing college hockey with Grand Canyon.
Get to know Smith:
What are some of your hobbies? I like playing video games with the guys but I mean we’re pretty busy with hockey and working out but when the chance is there, some games with the guys are fun
Do you have a favourite NHL team? I like the Dallas Stars, Roope Hintz is one of my favourite players on that team
What is your dream when it comes to hockey? Playing Division 1 is certainly the dream. With that said, playing any university hockey is really my goal, I would love to get four years in, play hockey and get an education out of it