Vacationing with his wife, Deborah, down in Myrtle Beach after a long OHL season, Marty Williamson had some work to do over the phone in his search for a new assistant coach.
The Barrie Colts general manager and head coach was busy interviewing Dylan Smoskowitz for the job when Deborah overheard the conversation the two were having.
“You better hire that guy,” she told her husband after he hung up the phone.
A smart husband always listens to his “better half.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty impressive,” Williamson told his wife.
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Four years later, Smoskowitz is in his first season as a head coach in Barrie. The Colts are riding a 10-game win streak and locked in a battle for first overall in the OHL standings thanks to an impressive run that has seen them lose just twice since the Christmas break.
Pretty impressive for a rookie coach who will certainly be on the short list when it comes to naming the OHL Coach of the Year.
When Williamson decided to step down as head coach after last season, he knew Smoskowitz was the right man to take over behind the bench.
“He’s an outstanding communicator,” Williamson said of the former Colts forward, who played two seasons in Barrie from 2010 to 2012. “He’s got a huge passion, and he wants to be successful, and he’s got a great work ethic. Those are big-time qualities of a good coach. You know, he checks all the boxes.”
Colts’ owner Howie Campbell had wanted Williamson to hold on to the coaching reins for one more season.
“I knew (Dylan) was ready, and I didn’t want to lose him,” said Williamson, who added the role of vice president to his general manager’s title. “I thought this was a transition the team had to make, and it couldn’t have worked out better.”
Williamson saw all those qualities over the three seasons the two spent together behind the Barrie bench. If he needed any confirmation that Smoskowitz could take the reins, he pretty much saw it after he asked him to replace the departing Phillip Barski and run the blueline.
Smoskowitz had never played defence, but Williamson watched the work he put in to prepare himself for the role.
“Just the people that he talked to, and the network he tried to tap into to learn as much about teaching defence, and how he didn’t want to let me down as his role got elevated, but also how he didn’t want to let the players down,” said Williamson.
“He wanted the answers.”
The answers he didn’t know, he went out and got.
Smoskowitz reached out to former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Frank Corrado and other NHLers. Williamson even saw him making Zoom calls, learning about surfing and angling.
“I knew he was ready for whatever was put in front of him,” said Williamson. “It wasn’t going to be overwhelming, and that’s what happens to a lot of guys. When you get overwhelmed, you don’t stay as consistent. You question yourself.
“I really don’t think that’s in Dylan’s makeup.”
When this season got off to a rocky start with six straight losses despite an early home-heavy schedule, there was no panic in the first-year coach.
That kind of early adversity can get to a young coach. Not Smoskowitz.
The message remained positive. The head coach was sure that better days were ahead with the return of players from NHL camps.
The team would soon respond.
“I think he’s a very good communicator, and he understood it was early,” explained Williamson. “He knew we had a good team. We had some disruptions early with players away at NHL camps. Who was going to be here? Who wasn’t? We were feeling out the league.
“There was no panic on Howie’s or my side. (Dylan) digs in. Things may not have gone well early, but this is a guy who wants to be successful. He digs in and works harder. We got through that blip, and it’s been pretty smooth sailing.”
Smooth sailing through hard work.
“He’s in there every morning, and I like how he talks to our team,” said Williamson. “I like how he prepares our team and what he demands from our team. One of the things I’m most proud of this group is our consistency.
“We did have a time there where we were giving up a lot of shots, and kind of surviving a bit, but this is what every team goes through. Now that we have all of our players, Dylan has done a great job preparing this team every week.”
To a man, the Colts have all bought in. They have a head coach and coaching staff that believe in them.
“It’s helped us a lot,” rookie defenceman Cole Emerton said of the enthusiasm and positive outlook Smoskowitz brings to the rink every day. “Something I’ve noticed with him is that maybe we have a bad period, and I don’t want to say we get down, but the mood isn’t great in the room, and Smosk will come in and lighten the room a bit.
“He reminds us of the team we can be, and it helps us a lot.”
“I know the guys in the room want to win for each other, want to win for the coaches,” added Emerton. “We work so hard, and he motivates us a lot. It’s really easy to play for him. He’s a great coach, and we love him.”
Being on the same page, says Williamson, is something that has made the transition behind the bench that much smoother. Both he and Smoskowitz talked a lot about what kind of team they wanted.
Both wanted a physical, hard team to play against, and the Colts have been exactly that this season.
As a young coach, Williamson said he learned a great deal from former GM Greg Carrigan. He was someone to talk to. To that extent, Williamson tries to be there for his young coach.
The two talk pretty much every day.
“He’s got someone to talk to if he wants,” said Williamson, who spent over 12 seasons behind an OHL bench. “I sure don’t push him on too many things, but we talk very bluntly with each other. We’re extremely close that way.
“I think it’s amazing what he is doing, and I like that he wants to call me every day and talk about things.”
Preparation goes into not just every game or practice, but every day. Smoskowitz’s “win the day” motto is not just some saying, but a blueprint. The focus remains on the task at hand, and not what’s ahead.
On the ice, in the gym, or even planning a meal, preparation is key.
Come game time, the Colts feel they are as prepared as they can be thanks to the work that Smoskowitz and assistant coaches Dennis Martindale, Patrick Sexton, and Connor Cadaret put in every day.
“They give us good pre-scout, so there’s nothing in a game that we really don’t know,” said Emerton. “Especially special teams. Dennis, being the power play guy, will let us know what set the opposing team will be in. The same thing goes for Patty on the (penalty kill). They’re very prepared people.”
Emerton credits Smoskowitz and the coaching staff for the development in his game.
“Maybe they’re young, but they teach us like they’re the most experienced guys in the world,” he said. “I know Patty especially, he helps me a lot. Doing video after every game, he gives me little things here and there that I really notice in my game that have helped.
“Denny on the power play, we do video also. He’s a great coach and points things out just like Patty.”
Williamson loves how well the coaching staff work together.
“I am awfully proud of these four guys,” he said. “They do a fantastic job. I love sitting in on a video session and having the banter.”
Williamson says he was fortunate to have had good assistant coaches along the way, like Smoskowitz, Barski, and Drake Berehowsky.
“Guys who were passionate and hard working,” he said. “Dylan is fortunate to have the same.”
The Colts were the first team to reach the 40-win mark in the OHL after last Saturday’s win over the Brantford Bulldogs. Barrie can wrap the Central Division title with a win tonight over the Sting in Sarnia.
Williamson’s best season with Barrie came in 2009-10 when he led the Colts to a franchise record 57 wins and an appearance in the OHL championship.
With 11 games remaining, this year’s club has a shot at reaching that magical 50-win mark again.
There’s been plenty to cheer about for Colts fans this season.
Cole Beaudoin is certain to be considered for the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player, while Kashawn Aitcheson is a leading contender for the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenceman.
The Sadlon Arena is once again selling out, and all under the guidance of a rookie coach who is proving his general manager was right when he said he was ready to guide his own team.
“I think he’s handled it all really well,” Williamson said of Smoskowitz.
Now, Williamson is hoping his young coach can get this Colts team to do one thing that the powerhouse team in 2009-10 didn’t do.
“We’d like to get this team to win one more series,” Williamson said with a smile.
