| Played for | Tampa Bay Lightning EHC München | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defense | ||||
| Shoots | Left | ||||
| Height | 6 ft | ||||
| Height in | 5 | ||||
| Weight lb | 240 | ||||
| Birth date | October 14, 1984 (age 41) | ||||
| Birth place | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | ||||
| Draft (2003) | 41st overall | ||||
| Draft team | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||
| Career start | 2006 | ||||
| Career end | 2017
|
Matthew Walker Smaby (born October 14, 1984) is an American coach and former professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently the associate head coach of the North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's ice hockey team.
Career
Smaby was drafted 41st overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Smaby had a three-year collegiate career with the University of North Dakota. He made his professional debut during the 2006–07 season playing for the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League (AHL). Smaby made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut in the 2007–08 season playing 14 games with the Lightning.
Smaby played five years with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. He did not receive a qualifying offer from Tampa Bay after the 2010–11 season and became an unrestricted free agent. On July 14, 2011, Smaby signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks.[1]
On June 6, 2013, Smaby signed his first European contract on a one-year deal with EHC München of the German Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[2] Prior to the 2014–15 season, Smaby signed a professional tryout contract with the Arizona Coyotes but was released on October 4, 2014,[3] and returned to EHC München. In 2015, München extended Smaby's contract though the 2016–17 season.
Smaby retired from playing in 2017 and returned to the University of North Dakota to earn his degree while rejoining his collegiate team, the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, as team manager. After earning his degree in 2019, he returned to Europe as an assistant coach with EC Red Bull Salzburg of Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (EBEL). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Smaby returned to the United States in 2020 and coached youth hockey in Grand Forks, North Dakota. On July 27, 2021, he was hired as the head coach of the Waterloo Black Hawks, a Tier I junior team in the United States Hockey League (USHL).[4] On May 21, 2025 after the conclusion of the 2024–25 USHL season in which Smaby led the Waterloo Black Hawks to the Clark Cup finals, he was named North Dakota's associate head coach.[5]
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001–02 | Shattuck–Saint Mary's | HSMN | 65 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 134 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Shattuck–Saint Mary's | HSMN | 57 | 3 | 20 | 23 | 114 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 39 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 42 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 46 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 66 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 58 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 25 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 43 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 33 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Syracuse Crunch | AHL | 30 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 26 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | EHC Red Bull München | DEL | 42 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 64 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 2014–15 | EHC Red Bull München | DEL | 31 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 2015–16 | EHC Red Bull München | DEL | 42 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 60 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 | ||
| 2016–17 | EHC Red Bull München | DEL | 42 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 97 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | ||
| AHL totals | 212 | 7 | 36 | 43 | 210 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| NHL totals | 122 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| DEL totals | 157 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 277 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 60 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-WCHA Third Team | 2005–06 | |
| WCHA All-Tournament Team | 2006 | [6] |
| WCHA All-Academic Team | 2005-06 |
References
- ^ "Ducks ink Smaby to One-Year deal". Anaheim Ducks. 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- ^ "Munich olbigated to Matt Smaby" (in German). EHC München. 2013-06-06. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
- ^ "Coyotes Release Smaby". Arizona Coyotes. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
- ^ "Smaby Next Hawks Head Coach". Waterloo Black Hawks. July 27, 2021.
- ^ "Matt Smaby named UND's associate head coach". Grand Forks Herald. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-21.
- ^ "WCHA Tourney History". WCHA. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-26.