Everybody has a favorite "below the radar" player. 

You know, a guy who seems to be a bit under appreciated by the fanbase at large (at least to you).  Maybe he's the grinder who digs out the puck in the corner, or the stay at home defenseman who allows his partner to free-lance.  Or maybe he was just a damn good player who was overshadowed by the superstars on his own team.

Back in the 90's, Steve Smith was my favorite Blackhawk.  It was one of those things, everyone else's favorite player was Chelios or Roenick or Belfour or Cam Russell, so it was like Smith was MY guy.  I knew how good he was, even if nobody else noticed.  Of course, most fans did notice, but that never stopped me from thinking it.

And make no mistake, Steve Smith was a hell of a player.  He won 3 Stanley Cups with the Oilers and went to the Finals with the Blackhawks.  He was big and strong(he once smashed down the partition in the penalty box at the Shark Tank in San Jose while trying to get at Andre Nazarov), a master of the open-ice hip check and good on both ends of the ice.  Granted he was a bit overshadowed by some of the other players on the Hawks, but he didn't seem to care.  Smitty's best offensive season came in the 92-93 season with 57 points, but he didn't get much pub for it, since his partner ended up with 73 points and his second Norris Trophy.  Chelios and Smith were awesome on the blue line that year, terrorizing opposing forwards and goalies both.  I liked to think of them as two dogs in their yard, Chelly the nasty, little pit bull who stood with his nose to the fence barking at everything that moved, while Smith was the hulking mastiff, standing by just in case his smaller buddy bit off more than he could chew.

Oh, and since this is Friday Night Fights, I guess it stands to reason that Smith could throw down a bit.  Wearing an "A" during most of his Blackhawk career, Smith never had to be asked to stick up for his teammates.  Maybe it was the Scotsman in him, but Smitty always seemed to enjoy a good scrap.  Unfortunately, fighting would be Steve's undoing as a player; he broke his leg in a freak incident while fighting with Tie Domi, tried to come back too soon, and was put down again by cheap shot slash to the same leg from no-good Communist Igor Larionov, who belongs in prison. 

Tonight's fight features Smith and Calgary's Ronnie Stern.  The fight came during the 96-97 season, shortly after Stern awoke from a 5 year long coma after this hit.  I don't know why he chose to fight with Smith, but I think after this scrap Stern stayed far, far away from Steve Smith.