Givani Smith has Apr. 7 circled on his calendar.
That’s the San Jose Sharks’ next and last game against the Arizona Coyotes this season.
Smith hasn’t played since Dec. 21, leaving a 5-2 loss to the Coyotes early because of this Matt Dumba hit.
Smith did not like the collision, which Dumba was not penalized in any way for.
“Dumba stepped up and kind of led with his knee to my knee, and unfortunately, my knee caught, I wasn’t expecting it, and my knee went back a little bit,” Smith told San Jose Hockey Now on Dec. 29. “You can control your body on the ice. He knew what he was doing. It’s a part of hockey.”
It sounds like Smith at least avoided the worst-case scenario…
“It was a big hit. It was a fast hit. My knee hyper extended,” he said. “I thought it was gonna be a lot worse. But the MRI came back good.”
He also said, two days before New Year’s Eve: “It’s just going day to day, week to week, and getting the strength back, and then I should be good to go.”
But six weeks later, Smith still hasn’t returned to game action. Officially, he’s been out with a lower-body injury. He has skated intermittently, however, and we’ll see if he’s part of the San Jose Sharks’ return to practice this Saturday after a nine-day layoff.
So see you in two months, Matt Dumba?
“Yuuppp. Read my mind,” Smith said, when reminded that the San Jose Sharks still have one more date with the Coyotes this season. “Fortunately, when you do things like that, things happen to you. Not much really to say about that.”
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