Will Smith is the hottest prospect to come out of New England for this year’s NHL Draft. The Lexington, Mass., native could be selected as high as the third pick.
But there’s one piece of information he keeps close to the vest. Pry and pry and pry for this and you’ll come up short. NHL teams interviewing him would have a difficult time getting him to disclose details about this secret.
How he cooks his steaks.
“I have some special seasonings, but I can’t give it away,” Smith said. “I season those bad boys up and throw them on there for a certain amount of time.”
Ryan Leonard and Will Vote, Smith’s teammates the past two years at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, haven’t been able to extract the secret from him, either. But they have been beneficiaries of the steaks — because Smith, Leonard and Vote have been roommates the past two years at a home near the NTDP camp in Plymouth, Mich.
The idea came from Kent Hughes, now the Montreal Canadiens general manager who once coached Smith and Vote on the Boston Junior Eagles. His son, Jack, and Ryan St. Louis, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Marty who’s now the Canadiens head coach, broke with tradition and, instead of staying with a billet family, shared a house that the players’ families would rotate in and out of as chaperones. Hughes recommended the idea — and the house — to Smith and Vote, Smith’s best friend from Arlington, Mass.
“I was really excited,” said Will’s mother, Debbi Vote. “What an opportunity for the boys to have a situation where they could have this home away from home. It felt like it was hard to think about the boys being in Michigan and us being in Massachusetts. It felt a little early for them to be on their own.”
Smith and Vote recruited Leonard — a forward out of Amherst, Mass., who makes scoring goals look effortless — into their living arrangement. Vote didn’t know Leonard well, but Smith played with him during the summers on Blue Chip Selects.
The three would live together in the old Hughes house with Smith’s mom, Colleen (as well as the family dog, Rigs — a Cavachon), and Debbi Vote rotating every two weeks as the parental supervisor.
“I was a little worried at first about our schedule of two weeks on, two weeks off, and I’m not somebody who’s done a lot of traveling. So it felt a little intimidating,” Debbi said. “It’s worked out incredibly well and I love it.”
Now all three players — who are all committed to play at Boston College — could be chosen in the NHL Draft next week, and the memories they built over two years living together in Plymouth will endure.
Ping-pong, jiu-jitsu and a competitive spirit
Once in the front door of their temporary home, there’s a table on the right that’s never used, according to Leonard. Walking straight leads to the kitchen and a room with a TV. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms — one for Vote, one for Smith and one for the moms. In the basement is a bedroom, which is where Leonard set up shop.
“It’s my quiet space in a way,” Leonard said. “I have my own space. It’s pretty good.”
That quiet space came in handy during a difficult U-17 year. That team opened the season losing nine of 10 games and finished 19-33. That group, like most U-17 NTDP teams, was playing older, tougher, stronger competition. It’s by design.
But the space outside of Leonard’s room featured something that came in handy throughout last season: a ping-pong table.
“When we moved in, that was like all we did was ping-pong, ping-pong, ping-pong,” Smith said. “They would get so heated, yelling. We started going at it, had some fights in that.”
That’s life in a house full of three hockey players bound for Division 1 hockey.
“We liked to go at it with each other sometimes,” Smith said.
Smith claims he’s the best ping-pong player in the house. Vote, however, would not confirm that.
“I’d say coming in he might’ve been the best,” Vote said. “But Ryan and I caught up real fast and the tables turned really quickly. I don’t know where we stand right now.”
Also during the U-17 year were jiu-jitsu lessons twice a week through the NTDP. The goal wasn’t just to toughen up these kids who were about to face older and more mature players. It was to teach lessons like leaving ego at the door and using different muscles that aren’t normally used on the ice to try and prevent injury.
The ego was left at the door quite a bit.
“I saw the videos they took when they were training and they had done the jiu-jitsu and they were practicing on these Marines — they were these enormous guys,” Debbi said. “It’s takedown after takedown and watching Will (Vote) go flat on his face was really, really funny.”
The jiu-jitsu didn’t end at the facility in Plymouth.
When the boys arrived home, they would have to get on the carpet and show off their new moves to the mom on duty. Debbi’s older sons, Joe and Ben, were wrestlers. She always got a kick out of the trio of hockey players’ form, or lack thereof.
“This jiu-jitsu thing comes along and I’m like, ‘That is not how you do it,’” she said.
Both ping-pong and jiu-jitsu were tinged with a similar competitive spirit.
“The program is probably the most competitive place you can be for an American hockey player growing up,” Smith said. “So if you take that and imagine living with two of those guys — we’re always doing something that’s competitive.”
Video: Our top 10 New England prospects for the NHL Draft
https://youtu.be/yLoRNLUvpqY
The Massachusetts towns in which Smith and Vote grew up are next to each other — Lexington and Arlington. In 2020, during the height of COVID-19, Vote would inline skate to the Smiths’ on a bike path. The guys would inline skate around Lexington with sticks and a Green Biscuit roller puck, passing it around.
“Streets were pretty empty,” Vote said.
Eventually, they’d find their way behind a Dunkin' and play a puck-protection game. One time, Smith and Vote were going so hard that Smith slashed Vote’s stick clean in half.
“It’s in everything we do,” Vote said. “It’s in golf, it’s in basketball, it’s in knee hockey in (Smith’s) basement. I think we’re both two really competitive guys and I think that’s what makes us such good friends.”
Upon moving into the house, Leonard picked up the spirit. Smith and Vote race each other down the stairs to see who can make it to breakfast first. They race each other up the stairs to see who can claim the first shower. All three boys race to the car for the front seat.
“I think there’s a lot of motivation that comes out of this,” Vote said. “I’m living with two of the best players in America right now, so the motivation is always there. It’s always been there for me. I try and help motivate them when they have a bad game or something. We’re always there for each other.
“I think it really helps a lot having two close friends in your house.”
Meals, superstition and love of the game
As much as Smith touts his steak, Colleen and Debbi were the two main cooks in the house. And there’s a fair amount of superstition that would go along with their meal plans.
Without a doubt, there'd one expense that would come above all else on regular trips to Costco: chicken. Part of that is due to Debbi’s famous chicken parm with a side of pasta and Caesar salad before games. Even when it’s an afternoon game, the boys would eat it for breakfast. The goal, however, was to always eat the pregame meal at 2 p.m.
“It’s worked up to now,” Debbi said. “Why mess with success?”
When Colleen would be in town, it’d be steak and pasta the night before games. She also would do chicken pot pies that everyone likes — a recipe she learned from her husband’s mother.
“My mom started making them,” Smith said. “They’re my favorite meal.”
These were routines that couldn't be broken. So, too, was the routine that all three boys must get a picture together before they head to the rink.
“There’s a little bit of superstition around the house,” Debbi said.
There’s also a lot of hockey, as one can imagine. Nothing sums this up better than a really cold day last winter.
Behind the house is a communal pond just big enough for skating. Despite the large amounts of snow, it took a while for the temperatures to drop below freezing. When they finally did and the ice was safe enough for blades, it came on the boys’ lone day off that week.
So naturally, the three went out and got to work.
They shoveled all the snow off. Vote had a backyard rink in Arlington, so he knew what it took to maintain an outdoor surface. Leonard too. They threw tons of water over the shoveled-off area to resurface the ice. They left it.
And then it snowed again, negating all the work they put into it. They never got to skate on it.
“I’m watching them out the window going, ‘Don’t they get enough ice time?’ ” Debbi said. “This is their one day off.”
Sometimes, the three boys will go in the street, or on the pond in the back if it’s frozen, and play “Sauce” — a game in which they try to saucer pass the puck into a tiny net for points.
“Their passion is unmatched,” Debbi said. “Every chance they get, they’ll play hockey. It’s never enough.”
The end for some, but not for others
The NHL Draft is set for June 28 in Nashville. Some of the league’s worst teams, like the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes, already have that date circled as the day their franchise is turned around. So, too, will the fans of those teams.
Smith will be a large part of that. Most mock drafts have Smith going somewhere between picks No. 3-7. Leonard doesn’t look to be taken as high but likely will be gone in the middle of the first round. Both will carry pressure in droves.
“If people say they don’t feel any pressure or something about the draft, I’m almost positive they’re lying,” Smith said. “Everyone knows about it. It’s probably the biggest thing in your hockey career coming up so far. Everyone knows it’s your draft year.”
It’s hard not to pay attention to the hype. After all, these are 17- and 18-year-old kids whom many fans will see as a beacon of hope for a potential turnaround of their franchise.
Do the players keep up with NHL draft news?
“A little bit,” Leonard said. “It’s kind of hard to just turn your phone off and not read anything just because there’s so much now, especially this year. I don’t like to think of it as ‘wow this ranking has me at that, that’s what I’m getting drafted at.’ It’s like it’s just going out there and playing and whatever happens in June, happens.”
Vote is a bit tougher to tell. In talking with scouts, the 5-foot-7, 159-pound crafty wing could go anywhere between Rounds 3-7.
He has been a bit more adamant about not focusing on Nashville.
“Honestly, I think about it less than I did back in October,” Vote said. “I think there’s just so much going on out here and so much to worry about day to day and weekend to weekend and the games we’re playing right now. It’s there, it’s inevitable. It’ll come when it comes.”
The regular season ended on April 2 against the USHL’s Chicago Steel. Then it was on to the U-18 World Championship, where the United States won the gold medal.
Smith led the tournament in scoring with nine goals and 20 points in seven games, further elevating his draft stock. Leonard did the same, ranking third in the tournament in scoring with 17 points. He had eight goals, with his most important coming in overtime of the gold-medal game to beat Sweden, 3-2. Vote finished with one goal and seven points.
Now their time in Plymouth is over. But it might have just been a warm-up act. All three are committed to Boston College. They should be instant upgrades for the Eagles.
“It’s awesome,” Vote said. “We’re all so pumped.”
When they head to Chestnut Hill, it’s still undecided if the boys will live together again.
“Um, it’s come up a little bit,” Smith said. “We don’t really know yet. We might split out, we might not. We’ll see what happens.”
What will end is Colleen and Debbi alternating weeks in Michigan, which is something Debbi has been dreading for a while.
In spring 2022, the NTDP U-18 team recognized the billet families at the end of the year. Debbi was watching and finding herself becoming misty-eyed thinking about being in that same place a year from then.
“A year ahead of myself I was already mourning the end of the time we’re spending together,” she said. “I’m going to be a complete mess at the end of this.”
The players know there will come a time when they will yearn for times like they spent in Michigan.
“There’s nothing like living with two of your best friends. It’s an unreal experience and every single small memory I’ll think of even if it’s fighting or ping-pong or jiu-jitsu,” Vote said.
“There are just so many laughs in this house. I think that’s what I’ll remember most.”
So, will the jiu-jitsu be taken to BC?
“Yeah we might have to,” Vote said with a laugh. “We’ll show the seniors some jiu-jitsu. They might still beat us up.”
Video: NTDP coach Dan Muse on development of Smith, Leonard and Vote
https://youtu.be/Y381RLEPBQ4
