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Mark Smith back with Devils (Wales on line this morning) Sorry don't know how to do a link.
Fantastic news
Fantastic news
Mark Smith signs
- Thread starter devilmaycare
- Start date
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/ice ... -23877045/
Always thought he was a little over-rated to be honest :roll:
Only kidding .. should be one of the best players in the league. Great signing for the Devils. Wannabe was right ... everyone should have kept the faith :lol:
Always thought he was a little over-rated to be honest :roll:
Only kidding .. should be one of the best players in the league. Great signing for the Devils. Wannabe was right ... everyone should have kept the faith :lol:
Until our hosting glitch is sorted here is the official PR:
The Cardiff Devils have signed Mark smith for the 2009/10 season.
Smith returns for his second spell with the club, following the 2006/07 season when he became a fan favourite due to his intensity, skill level and prolific scoring ability. During that year at the Devils he averaged over 1.5 points per game, a performance that made an indelible impression on the minds of the Cardiff supporters. His career high for points so far is 91 – his preferred jersey number and he will move onto the devils top line as Head Coach Gerad Adams heads into the final stages of his recruiting this off-season.
For Devils fans, this was a signing that was simply out of reach this year due to the strength of the Euro and the Dollar against the pound, but once again the City of Cardiff and the support for the club had a say in the decision. Smith thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Principality and is looking forward to his return.
For Coach Adams, this is another big statement of intent from the organisation:
“This is a real indication of the professionalism of our club and the level of attraction Cardiff holds for players. For me this is a huge step towards our goals. We want the best possible team we can on the ice, the most professional team. Having Mark back on board proves that.”
“He is an absolute winner, a pure competitor. He is the model professional with his conduct on and off the ice. It is very rare indeed to find a player with Mark’s very high skill level that is also the hardest working player on the ice every week, every game and every shift.”
“Everything about our team just improved”, says Adams, who is known to prize attitude and work ethic as highly as ability and production.
“Our skill level, work rate, execution and our intensity have all gone up as a result of signing Mark Smith.”
So what is it about Mark’s game that raises the bar?
“His work rate shift in, shift out is phenomenal” says Adams. “He does not take a shift off and will not allow his teammates to take a shift off either. He is aggressive and intense. He rubs a couple of opponents up the wrong way but he is my kind of player. As hard as he works, if you are not giving the same effort then Mark will pull you up and make you better. He challenges you to match his intensity; he demands it from his colleagues. That matches my philosophy as a coach and to have a top, top level player like Mark with the same attitude – well, it’s a huge boost for me and the team.”
To finish first is always our goal. We didn’t have a great year last year, even though we improved on the previous season. We want to win every single game we play in this year, and having players like Mark will push us towards that.
Adams is clearly excited over his latest signing and no this will doubt send a message to the Devils fans that their support and commitment (a record number of Devils season tickets have been sold in the EIHL era) is well placed. Adams is not quite finished yet though:
“I have another player I have agreed with that we will be announcing later this week, another top quality player who will raise our team. I also have an offer out there to a defenceman and I hope to have that finalised soon.”
For more coverage of this and other stories visit Wales online or pick up a copy of the South Wales Echo.
The Cardiff Devils have signed Mark smith for the 2009/10 season.
Smith returns for his second spell with the club, following the 2006/07 season when he became a fan favourite due to his intensity, skill level and prolific scoring ability. During that year at the Devils he averaged over 1.5 points per game, a performance that made an indelible impression on the minds of the Cardiff supporters. His career high for points so far is 91 – his preferred jersey number and he will move onto the devils top line as Head Coach Gerad Adams heads into the final stages of his recruiting this off-season.
For Devils fans, this was a signing that was simply out of reach this year due to the strength of the Euro and the Dollar against the pound, but once again the City of Cardiff and the support for the club had a say in the decision. Smith thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Principality and is looking forward to his return.
For Coach Adams, this is another big statement of intent from the organisation:
“This is a real indication of the professionalism of our club and the level of attraction Cardiff holds for players. For me this is a huge step towards our goals. We want the best possible team we can on the ice, the most professional team. Having Mark back on board proves that.”
“He is an absolute winner, a pure competitor. He is the model professional with his conduct on and off the ice. It is very rare indeed to find a player with Mark’s very high skill level that is also the hardest working player on the ice every week, every game and every shift.”
“Everything about our team just improved”, says Adams, who is known to prize attitude and work ethic as highly as ability and production.
“Our skill level, work rate, execution and our intensity have all gone up as a result of signing Mark Smith.”
So what is it about Mark’s game that raises the bar?
“His work rate shift in, shift out is phenomenal” says Adams. “He does not take a shift off and will not allow his teammates to take a shift off either. He is aggressive and intense. He rubs a couple of opponents up the wrong way but he is my kind of player. As hard as he works, if you are not giving the same effort then Mark will pull you up and make you better. He challenges you to match his intensity; he demands it from his colleagues. That matches my philosophy as a coach and to have a top, top level player like Mark with the same attitude – well, it’s a huge boost for me and the team.”
To finish first is always our goal. We didn’t have a great year last year, even though we improved on the previous season. We want to win every single game we play in this year, and having players like Mark will push us towards that.
Adams is clearly excited over his latest signing and no this will doubt send a message to the Devils fans that their support and commitment (a record number of Devils season tickets have been sold in the EIHL era) is well placed. Adams is not quite finished yet though:
“I have another player I have agreed with that we will be announcing later this week, another top quality player who will raise our team. I also have an offer out there to a defenceman and I hope to have that finalised soon.”
For more coverage of this and other stories visit Wales online or pick up a copy of the South Wales Echo.
3 words came into my head with this announcement.
Statement of Intent.
This is a fantastic signing for the Devils and a sign of how far we have come over the last year or so with the new management.
Mark Smith is a player who any team in the league would want, in fact there are lots of teams in lots of leagues who would have loved to have signed him. But they've lost out to us.
Very very happy with signing, and it sounds like there could be even more good news in the not to distant future.
Our team really is starting to shape up nicely.
Statement of Intent.
This is a fantastic signing for the Devils and a sign of how far we have come over the last year or so with the new management.
Mark Smith is a player who any team in the league would want, in fact there are lots of teams in lots of leagues who would have loved to have signed him. But they've lost out to us.
Very very happy with signing, and it sounds like there could be even more good news in the not to distant future.
Our team really is starting to shape up nicely.
superb news, great to have mark back. As has been said, any team in the league would of loved to have signed him.
Really shaping up well, we know we have a second line capable of scoring and with smithy we are going to have huge points on our first line. I can see the other signing being deschatelay as his style of play would be perfect to play with smithy
Really shaping up well, we know we have a second line capable of scoring and with smithy we are going to have huge points on our first line. I can see the other signing being deschatelay as his style of play would be perfect to play with smithy
It's the news we all wanted but didn't think could happen. Hats off to G for pulling this one out of the bag. I guess the rally in the pound against the dollar and euro is going to help teams a fair bit. If we could get Maxi back we'd pretty much have 2 lines who have actually played together before.
(Get Samps out of retirement and we could have an import on our 4th line)
September seems to be getting further away not closer
I assume its just an oversight that Towe isn't listed as a player in the Wales Online article
(Get Samps out of retirement and we could have an import on our 4th line
)September seems to be getting further away not closer
I assume its just an oversight that Towe isn't listed as a player in the Wales Online article
OMG - just shows if you try hard enough, your wish is granted! Welcome back Mark. Can't wait to see him on the ice again. A quality signing above quality signings. How exciting is next season going to be?
Thanks to G for delivering on a promise - thanks to Mark for coming back!
I'm now dreaming of a 1st line ....
Deschatalets-Elich-Smith :mrgreen:
or
Birbraer-Elich-Smith :mrgreen:
Can we all hold hands and shut our eyes tight...then it might come true!
Can't wait to see him on the ice again. A quality signing above quality signings. How exciting is next season going to be? Thanks to G for delivering on a promise - thanks to Mark for coming back!
I'm now dreaming of a 1st line ....
Deschatalets-Elich-Smith :mrgreen:
or
Birbraer-Elich-Smith :mrgreen:
Can we all hold hands and shut our eyes tight...then it might come true!
Just noticed another interesting (and exciting) bit of news in the WalesOnline article:
Does this mean Jarvis or Hartwick have dropped their studies - or have we now increased our number available to 3?
Attracting a player here on a degree would be brilliant - after all it was the only way we were able to attract a player of Tyson's quality initially.
Does this mean Jarvis or Hartwick have dropped their studies - or have we now increased our number available to 3?
Attracting a player here on a degree would be brilliant - after all it was the only way we were able to attract a player of Tyson's quality initially.