Overcoming adversity makes Smith stronger

Ninety percent of goaltending is 100 percent mental.

Figuring out how to handle that aspect of the game, however, continues to baffle Mike Smith. The 28-year-old goaltender believes the last month might go a long way to helping him figure out just how to manage his athletic skills and translate them into being a consistent net presence.

Smith spent the past month tending net for the Norfolk Admirals after being the odd man out after the Lightning acquired veteran Dwayne Roloson from the New York Islanders on New Year's Day. That left Smith and Dan Ellis in the awkward position of being repeatedly asked how they were handing a three-goalie roster.

After recovering from a knee sprain that kept him out for a month, Smith was placed on waivers on Feb. 2 and went unclaimed before being assigned to Norfolk on Feb. 5.

Smith hopes that experience makes him more mentally strong and capable of handling whatever comes at him, especially pucks directed at him at a high rate of speed.

"I'm definitely mentally stronger after all this,'' Smith said. "It's definitely been a whirlwind of a month, things that I've gone through this month I've never gone through in my career and hopefully I won't have to go through that any more.''

Once he went down, Smith handled himself professionally, went out and did his job. While he didn't pick up many victories - he posted a 1-4 record, which included two conditioning starts before officially being reassigned - his play was solid. With a 1.83 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, Smith hopes his rediscovered the game that made him the key piece in the 2008 trade that sent Brad Richards to Dallas.

Once Tampa Bay traded Ellis to Anaheim on Friday for goaltender Curtis McElhinney, a door re-opened for Smith to return to the NHL. And with McElhinney placed on waivers Saturday, Smith is likely here to stay for the rest of the season to serve as the backup to Roloson as Tampa Bay inches closer to earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2006-07.

"I went down there and played really well, played my game,'' Smith said. "I didn't win a whole lot, but I felt like myself again, so hopefully I can bring that back up there. I was down (in Norfolk) with the thought that I was going to be there the rest of the year, and if something happens then I would cross that bridge when I came to it. Obviously I'm very excited to be back here and being back with guys that I have gotten so close to and helping this team win.''

There is no definitive game plan for how much Smith will play in the final 21 games of the season. Roloson will get the nod today against the New York Rangers, and from there Coach Guy Boucher said things will be dealt with on a day-by-day basis.

"All I know is that (Smith) is not injured right now, he played really well down there, really composed,'' Boucher said. "Our goalie coach (Frantz Jean) looked at all the games and stayed in contact with him and kept giving him information and help. He played really well, and we are confident, just like we were with Ellis, that he can do the job whenever he gets in the net.

"And whenever you have adversity, that's when you see who you are. Everybody is good when things go well, everybody is nice and everybody is smart. It's when things don't go well, then you know who you are. Now we know who he is.''

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