Step back allows Colton Smith to keep hockey career moving forward.

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A step back has allowed Colton Smith to keep his hockey career moving forward.

Unable to secure an overage roster spot with the Windsor Spitfires, the 20-year-old Smith opted to join the Leamington Flyers for his last season of junior hockey eligibility.

After a sizzling offensive start to the season, Smith is now set to continue his hockey career at the NCAA level after committing to Clarkson University Golden Knights in Potsdam, N.Y. starting in 2025-26.

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“I was thinking it was my last year of junior and wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Smith said.

For decades, any player with experience playing in the Canadian Hockey League in the Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League or Quebec Major Junior Hockey was ruled ineligible to play in the NCAA. Over the summer, the NCAA Division I council voted to make CHL players eligible to play in the NCAA.

“I was with the Spits last year and didn’t know this rule was going to pass,” said Smith, who will study business and has four years of NCAA eligibility. “I was just playing in Leamington and had a good start and they reached out to me.”

Smith said he was actually contacted by a few schools, but opted for the Eastern College Athletic Conference power that is currently ranked No. 19 in the NCAA .

“I looked around and thought that this was the best option for me,” the six-foot-three, 209-pound Smith said. “They’ve won the championships before, have a great coach, staff, rink and facility. That was big for me.”

Smith credits his move to Leamington with helping him regain confidence in his game. Flyers’ head coach Dale Mitchell won back-to-back Memorial Cup titles while playing for the Spitfires in 2009 and 2010 when his father D.J. Smith was a coach with the club and a young Colton Smith was a regular around the rink.

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“Coach (Mitchell) gave me an opportunity I haven’t had in a long time,” Smith said. “I got a fresh start.”

A former second-round OHL Draft pick by the London Knights, Smith was traded to Windsor ahead of the 2022-23 season. After posting 22 goals and 47 points in his first season with the club, Smith’s numbers slipped back last season and he finished with just 13 goals and 28 points in 68 games.

Smith had hoped to secure one of the three overage spots with the club this season, but the Spitfires opted to go with Ryan Abraham and Noah Morneau up front and traded for defenceman Tnias Mathurin to round out the group.

“I did (want to go back) and they said, ‘We’re going to go our separate ways,’” Smith said. “I went to Leamington and that was that.”

Heading into Thursday’s home game against the Niagara Falls Canucks, Smith leads the entire Ontario Junior Hockey League with 29 goals and 48 points in 26 games.

“I think it’s all confidence and someone believing in you,” Smith said. “It’s been tough (after last year) and here I got an opportunity.”

He credits linemate Gavin Grundner with also helping to spark his game. Grundner played in the OHL with Guelph and sits eighth overall in OJHL scoring with 37 points in 27 games.

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“I think playing with Grundner has helped me a lot,” Smith said. “I couldn’t have done it without Grundner helping me on and off the ice. Just two Windsor guys and Dale has done nothing, but give us an opportunity and we want to help the guys in Leamington win a championship.”

While several CHL players have now signed on with NCAA clubs, Smith is the first OJHL player with CHL experience to make the jump and he doesn’t expect he will be the last.

“I think (Grundner) will,” Smith said. “Somebody’s going to give him an opportunity and (goalie) Marcus Vandenberg doesn’t get enough credit.”

Vandenberg, who played in the OHL for Kitchener, Niagara and Sudbury, leads the OJHL with a 1.28 goals-against average and a 1.51 save percentage.

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