Freshly handed the head coaching reins with the Barrie Colts, Dylan Smoskowitz headed out into the scorching heat this past summer to meet as many of his players as he could face-to-face.
The former assistant coach wanted to relay to each of them what he was looking for and, just as importantly, wanted to hear what they were expecting from the coming season ahead.
Wearing a pair of shorts and flip-flops on his feet, Smoskowitz sat down with centre Brad Gardiner at a restaurant, aiming for an open talk in a relaxed setting.
The Colts’ head coach recalls a great conversation between the two, but his veteran forward wanted to make one thing clear.
“He (Gardiner) looked me right in the eyes and said I’m ready to come back with a vengeance,” explained Smoskowitz, who didn’t doubt him one bit.
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Acquired from the Ottawa 67’s before the previous season, Gardiner was expected to be a key piece on a Barrie team that was looking to take a serious run at an OHL championship.
With 38 goals and 95 points in 188 games across his three seasons in the nation’s capital, the Aurora native had barely scratched the surface of his highly skilled offensive game.
A third-round pick (79th overall) of the Dallas Stars in the 2023 NHL Draft, Gardiner – the son of former NHLer and Barrie native Bruce Gardiner – appeared set to take his game to another level.
Playing on a deep, veteran-filled roster, the crafty forward finished his first year with the Colts with 18 goals and 38 points. Fewer than the point totals he recorded in Ottawa in each of the previous two seasons.
After the season, Dallas decided not to sign Gardiner to an entry-level contract.
Smoskowitz knew there was much more in Gardiner’s game. He told his forward he wanted him to play a bigger role this season. He needed him to be a leader. He needed him to be a driver on offence.
From opening night on, Gardiner has been exactly that and more this season. When top NHL prospects Cole Beaudoin, Kashawn Aitcheson and Emil Hemming were still away at training camps to start the season, Gardiner grabbed the reins and took his place among the OHL scoring leaders.
When an overtime winner was ruled no goal after a huge third-period rally from a 5-1 deficit early in the season against Niagara , Gardiner skated along the front of the bench and told his teammates no problem.
He had them.
Minutes later, he roofed a backhanded deke in the shootout to cap the stunning 6-5 win.
His 14 goals with the man advantage during the season helped give the Colts a second power-play unit that was just as potent as the first.
Gardiner went on to finish this season with a career-high 31 goals and 65 points in 67 games.
“I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone who watched last season that it wasn’t Brad’s best, and he’d be the first to tell you that,” said Smoskowitz. “He put the work in this offseason. He came back in shape.
“He came back mentally ready to dominate, and without Brad Gardiner this season, we are not where we are today.”
Gardiner was even better in the first-round playoff series win over Niagara. In just five games, he recorded four goals and 10 points and sits tied for fourth overall with teammate Ben Wilmott and the Soo’s Marco Mignosa among OHL playoff scoring leaders.
Now, Gardiner will lead the Colts against a 67’s team that selected him in the third round of the 2021 OHL Priority Selection.
Ottawa was his home for three seasons. He grew up there as a young man in many ways. He loves the city and its fans.
Yet there’s work to be done these playoffs, and the 67’s stand in his way of getting it done.
In all likelihood, if the Colts are to get through Ottawa and on to the Eastern Conference Finals in pursuit of a championship, they’ll need Gardiner to continue being the force he has been all season.
“He’s taken the bull by the horns this year,” said Smoskowitz. “He had a great start, and ‘OK, he’s playing really well now. Is he going to cool off? Is he going to slow down his production level?’
“He hasn’t. If anything, it’s just increased in the playoffs. If there’s one thing I know about Brad, it’s that he really elevates his game when he has to play his old team in Ottawa. He enjoys playing them. He enjoys going back to that city and playing in that rink.
“It’s something that the staff and I are looking forward to watching Brad Gardiner do.”
Who says you can’t go home?
Beaudoin is even more familiar with the nation’s capital. The Kanata native grew up there. Family, friends, and even younger brother Ryker’s hockey teammates help fill TD Place Arena whenever the Utah Mammoth top prospect and the Colts make the trek.
There’s no doubt that Beaudoin loves playing in his hometown. In an early December trip there, he was as dominant as ever, scoring twice and leading Barrie to an impressive 4-1 win over the 67’s in a battle between two of the OHL’s top contenders.
A little more than a month later, he returned and was just as good, scoring once and finishing with five points to lead the Colts to an 8-5 win.
“It does mean a ton to him,” Smoskowitz said of Beaudoin playing in his hometown. “It’s really cool, you get to see his little brother and his little brother’s teammates come out and give Cole high-fives before the game, and you see a big smile on Cole’s face.”
There are few better players in the OHL than Beaudoin right now. If the media does its job, they will vote for “Cobo” as the Red Tilson Trophy winner, awarded to the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player.
“When you think there’s nothing more for that kid to give, he gives 110 per cent every frigging shift he’s on the ice, but somehow, when he’s in his hometown, he always gives 111 per cent,” said Smoskowitz. “He does elevate his game and does want it that much more.
“It’s a great thing this series that he’ll be wearing a Barrie Colts jersey because I wouldn’t want to get in that kid’s way.”
Gardiner and Beaudoin will move on after this season, and this year’s playoff run presents the last opportunity to add a championship title to their OHL resumes.
Standing in the way is a city and team they both know so well.
