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Smith Suffering From Effects Of Concussion

The Associated Press

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Mike Smith takes a shot off the helmet against the Philadelphia on January 15th.

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2009

TAMPA - On the ice, Mike Smith remained silent on Monday.

Off the ice, however, it was finally revealed that Smith is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, which has kept the team's No. 1 goaltender out of action since Jan. 30. When he'll return is unclear as Smith said he's been suffering from the symptoms for at least a month, but he didn't report the problem to the team medical staff until he was pulled from a start on Jan. 30.

"The last couple of games, I got to a point where I felt like I was more affecting the team than anything else and I wasn't much help," said Smith, who is 14-18-9 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. "It's something that I have been playing with for quite some time and it's one of those things where it got to the point where it was something, am I helping the team by playing through it or am I making it worse."

In his last four starts, Smith had a 3.88 goals-against average and an .884 save percentage. He allowed three or more goals in four consecutive games for the only time this season.

"I felt like I hadn't played that bad all year and I felt the past couple of games were my worst games of the year and that's when I decided to make the call," Smith said.

For the previous 10 days, Smith's situation had been kept under wraps by the team, leading to speculation as to what the injury was, how it occurred and how long he might be out. General Manager Brian Lawton mentioned on separate occasions that he expected Smith to be ready by now.

"I wish it would have got squashed right away instead of it lingering," veteran right wing Mark Recchi said of the speculation on how Smith was injured. "We all know it didn't happen on Jan. 30 and everybody in here knows it didn't happen, but the media sees and you guys have to report it, but it should have been squashed right away. That would have been nice. It doesn't help the player."

A statement from the team indicated Smith will be back on the ice by next week, although Smith said Monday there is no set timetable for his return.

"Although Mike would prefer to be skating and playing right now the appropriate course of action is to err on the safe side," Lawton said in the statement.

Mike McKenna gets the call again tonight in net, and, presumably, for the near future.

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835.

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