By TRACY WATSON
Daily News Sports Reporter
The National Hockey League community is a rather small world, after all.
For instance, when Shane Doan wanted to know if Barry Smith was the kind of coach he would want leading the Kamloops Blazers, he went to the source -- the people who had worked with Smith when he was an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks.
"As a player, you always ask anyone you play against, 'What's he like?' And everyone talks about (Smith's) energy and his commitment to the team," said Doan, the Phoenix Coyotes captain and Blazers part-owner who was in attendance Thursday when Smith was introduced as the WHL team's head coach.
Doan said he checked out Smith with Brad Isbister, a former Coyotes teammate who played in Vancouver last season, and with Rick Bowness, a Canucks' assistant coach who was a former head coach in Phoenix. Both gave Smith rave reviews.
"It's exciting when you hear they have great things to say. As a player, you don't have any idea what a coach is like, so it was good to talk to the guys and just see their reaction," said Doan, adding it didn't take long for him to form his own opinion upon meeting Smith.
"His energy -- you can see it when you talk to him," Doan said. "It's contagious, and his teams play with that kind of enthusiasm and love of the game. It's an upbeat energy you can see in his players and the guys he's coached."
Doan was joined in Kamloops by Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi, as well as by Darryl Sydor of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Doan and Sydor are two of four NHLers and former Blazers in the ownership group. Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames and Mark Recchi weren't in attendance . Recchi, an unrestricted free agent, is believed to be close to signing with the Tampa
Bay Lightning.
Doan is just getting to know Smith, but Gaglardi has been familiar with the coach for the last five years or so -- they have a mutual friend in Ian Clark, the Canucks' goaltending coach.
"I've always been impressed with him," Gaglardi said, adding Smith spoke to him about applying for the Blazers' job before the Canucks' season even ended.
Gaglardi was happy to see Smith's interest.
"I'm thrilled. To end up with a guy the calibre of Barry is a great result," Gaglardi said. "It's all about leadership and hiring the right leaders. I think the biggest decision the ownership made was (hiring) Craig Bonner.
"Once that decision was made, it was up to Craig now to be the leader and to make sure he surrounds himself with successful and capable people. And he's done that with Barry."
The proof still must be in the pudding, said Doan.
Smith must find a way to turn the Blazers into something better than the team that limped to eighth in the Western Conference last season, winning just once in its last 15 games en route to a 27-41-2-2 record. The Blazers were then swept from the playoffs, losing four straight first-round games to the Tri-City Americans.
However, Doan believes Kamloops finally has the infrastructure in place to begin producing champions -- again.
"Obviously in the last year there's been a lot of change. Change is never comfortable," Doan said. "So now it's time to start to get some stability and to get some concrete pieces in place that you can count on. That's, I think, probably the most exciting part.
"As one of the people who are the biggest fans of the Blazers, I can't wait for the season to start."
