Saturday, 04. March 2023 | EHC Red Bull München: Ben Smith in private interview
A terribly musical family: Ben Smith in a personal interview// INTERVIEWBen Smith has competed with the best players in the world, winning just about everything. He carries the DNA of a champion. And yet the US-born player avoids the limelight.An excellent example of this is the away game at the Bietigheim Steelers on Valentine's Day. The Red Bulls showed a dominant performance, winning 5:1 at the bottom of the table. The outstanding player on the ice was Smith, who scored his first three-pack in a Red Bulls jersey. And yet the 34-year-old didn't say a word about his personal performance on the MagentaSport microphone afterwards.
The big interview is all about him. Among other things, Smith talks about four important goals, musical talents and chance encounters that have shaped his life.
Ben, every hockey player dreams of lifting the Stanley Cup one day. For most, it remains a dream; you won field hockey's most important title in just the third year of your professional career. How did that feel?
Smith: "It's obviously a nice thing to see the Stanley Cup in your player profile. But that season I only played one game in the main round and one in the playoffs. So part of me didn't feel like a champion at the time. Over the course of my career, I've learned a lot about winning and realized that it comes down to every single player on the team. As trivial as his role may seem."
The list of your successes (NCAA title, Stanley Cup, Calder Cup, World Cup bronze, DEL championship) is impressive. Does the joy of a title diminish at some point?
"Absolutely not. When you work for nine months with a sworn squad toward a goal and then count down the last seconds in the decisive game arm in arm with your guys on the bench... The feeling has been indescribable every single time."
As we all know, everyone started out small. How did you actually get into ice hockey?
"I was born in Winston-Salem (North Carolina) and moved to Avon (Connecticut) with my family when I was two years old. That's where it all started with the Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes). The Whalers coached in my hometown. My dad didn't really have anything to do with field hockey, but at some point he got the idea to get a season ticket for the games at the Civic Center with a neighbor. The enthusiasm spread to the whole family."
And then it was off to the ice for yourself....
"Exactly, I started with my three brothers, but they didn't play for more than a few years. With me, it's been around 30 years now (laughs). They've all gone down a different path, but they're still big fans."
What branch are your brothers in?
"Let me start with my oldest brother, James. He is a professional oboist and actually even studied in Leipzig. He speaks perfect German and loves Germany. There is no one who comes to visit me more often. James travels all over the world and teaches at two music schools near New York. Music and sports are quite different at first glance, but there are so many similarities. You rehearse the entire time and then when you're on stage, you have to be there on the dot. The second oldest brother, Chris, lives in Virginia and owns a brewery there. My younger brother, William, started a nonprofit called LEAD, which has built soccer schools in Liberia and Morocco, among other places."
So you are scattered all over the world. When was the last time you saw each other?
"It wasn't that long ago, about six months. We all have busy schedules, but in the summer we always take a week for the Smith family vacation. This year there will be 14 of us: My parents, their four sons with wives and four children."
You'll be there with your wife, Millie, and your two children, Austin and Riley. How did you guys actually meet?
"We went to Boston College together, but didn't really have much to do with each other. That changed at a reunion five years later. It was a huge event. We happened to be standing next to each other at a drinking game, really hit it off right away and exchanged numbers. Then, when I got traded from Chicago to San Jose, I looked to see who I knew in the area. Not that many, I noticed, but Millie was living in San Francisco at the time. I got in the car and drove the hour there. We met at 'The Bell Tower' bar for a drink and that's how it all started."
Your father is American with Italian roots, your mother was born in Canada and grew up in the UK. How did they actually find each other?
"Through music. My uncle Peter Oundjian is an internationally known conductor. He conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for many years and is actually the reason my parents met. My mother and father were studying in Paris at the same time. Peter and my father still knew each other from Juilliard Music School in New York, and then he set them up."
Do you play an instrument, too?
"Unfortunately, I don't anymore. I played the trumpet as a kid and also tried my hand at the guitar from time to time. But one day I broke my finger playing ice hockey. Since then I can't bend it properly anymore, which is why it's a bit difficult with the instruments. But I still sang in the choir in high school."
You're a real leader, so you set the tone from time to time and always set a good example. Has that always been the case?
"No, there was a certain moment that changed things. I must have been seven years old at the time. I scored four goals in one game. The next day, a teammate in the dressing room proudly said, 'I scored two goals yesterday.' And I was just like, 'Oh, really? I scored four.' I'll never forget the serious look on my father's face. He walked out of the dressing room with me and told me to be humble. It was an important lesson. No matter how good or bad a game went for you, be humble and keep working hard on yourself. I've kept that up throughout my life."
Do you have any other situations in mind that you didn't realize the value of until after the fact?
"Oh yeah. I've basically been very fortunate with my coaches in my career. Ken Dixon, for example, coached me for four or five years growing up. He found a way to teach us so many important things about life through field hockey. It wasn't always just about the sport, it was about us as people. One summer he once said to me, 'You're playing defense next season.' And that's what I did. He wanted me to get to know the game from a different perspective. I know that now, too. At the time, my first reaction was, 'I'm not a defender, I want to score goals.'"
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