| There
cluttering up the left wing of one of the Stingers' most graceful and costly lines is Dale
Smedsmo, a self-described ugly duckling. He doesn't know what possessed coach Terry Slater
to group him with the snazzy Sobchuk brothers. Dennis and Gene, unless perhaps Slater
likes contrast. "They're so smooth," says Smedsmo, "and I'm so rough."
But that's his position anyway through most of the Stingers' two-a-day scrimmage at the
team's Sharonville training camp. Smedsmo doesn't mind the arrangement because he says it
gives him a chance to get a lot of "garbage goals," which is his nature.  "Dennis will take a shot and sometimes it will comeback out and just be
lying there for me," grins the husky 6-1, 205-pounder from northern Minnesota whose
style people like to compare with Pete Rose. "All I have to do is shove it in."
But it makes him look bad to be in such fast company, he jokes. "Gene is so quick. He
has that great burst of speed and he's a good shooter too. And then Dennis you know how he
is. When he gets the puck he just does anything he wants to with it. He's amazing."
Conversely, Smedsmo contends, good humoredly that he himself is a
klutz. "I'm not what you'd call real good with the puck, " he grins.
"Playing with Dennis is good for me because he likes to control the puck I have a
tendency to fight it when I have it. The Sobchuks are finesse players. I guess I lean more
toward the rugged style."
But then Stingers officials never believed him a ballerina. That's
not the reason they acquired the big 24-tear-old, who has no major league experience
except four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They hired him for his remarkable ability
to defend himself and his teammates. During the 1973-74 season Smedsmo spent a total of
more that six hours in the penalty box 399 minutes to be exact. When hired here, club
officials labeled him immediately as a "policeman." The Sobchuks particularly
Dennis represent an investment of more that $1 million over a period of years. Somebody
should guard that investment.
At the same time the Stingers point out that he will have a second
role. That of scorer. Because despite his many hours of leisure in the no-no box he
manages to score with remarkable frequency. During that 399- minute season for instance he
managed 56 points. "I get most my points by just muscling it past the
defenseman." he explains.
Off the ice there is no hint of Smedsmo's ferocity. He is a farm boy
from Roseau Minn and he speaks in that slow relaxed rural manner. He smiles and talks
fondly of fishing for walleye and hunting ducks along the Minnesota flyway. And his heart
is still on the farm, where he now raises horses and to where he says he will someday
retire. In fact, when things were going badly for him last year, he started thinking of
that farm and says he almost hung it up then.
The ruggedness he plays with is just an invention he indicates.
"I just don't have the ability of a lot of players today. I have to make up for it by
playing extra hard." It is no surprise he later mentions the Reds' Pete Rose and
says, "I love the way he plays. I think he's great. Look at his batting stance,"
Smedsmo demands "I don't see how he can even hit the ball the way he stands."
But Rose does hit and Smedsmo does play with the Sobchuks and there is hope for ugly
ducklings. |
