San Jose Sharks Forward, Will Smith, on the start of his love for hockey, the Lexington spots where he grew the love of the game, and the origin of the no.2
via San Jose Hockey Now.
compiled on March 17th, 2026. Happy 21st Birthday, Will.
Will started his first skating lessons at four. His mom, Colleen, put him there just for her wild little guy to have regular lessons.
It wasn’t until Bill’s good friend, Pat Hunt, asked him to play hockey in his backyard rink and swung by their home with a jersey that ignited the love for hockey for Will.
“He just turned five, and Pat asked him [to play], and he said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.'”
Will wearing #10 at Pat’s backyard rink (video)
They started keeping scores and penalties from day one. He would skate there 5-6 hours a day everyday until he got kicked out.
Will also briefly mentioned the start and his dad’s best friend at the NHL scouting combine, here.
(left) will in the lexington/beford hockey program, (right)
When he wasn’t at Pat’s rink or the local rink, he’d be at the secret pond,
There is also mention of another pond called “the Rez” in this Lexington Observer article here
Why the Number 2?
the many different phases of the no.2–(left) the first sighting of #2 jr. eagles will, (middle) jr. bruins will, (right) 2022-2023 ntdp will
When will had to pick the number for the Boston Junior Eagles, his dad told him that the best player for BC he’s ever seen was Brian Leetch who wore #2 at BC and all throughout his 17 years with the Rangers, where his number was eventually retired.
Football obsessed Will also liked the idea since he feel like it’s “a QB number”
Will didn’t always have the chance to have the no.2, so when the Sharks realized he wanted the no.2, it was his right away.
(edit for my mistake; thank you myfriendsareboring for pointing it out- will had #23 for draft day, #2 starts in dev camp!)
he confirmed the sharks got #2 for him in dev camp when he was asked at BC if #2 was coming back after he spent his time at BC wearing #6 (video around 13.15 mark)
— and there we have it!! the origin story, the pond, the story behind the number 2. I was gonna stay on the San Jose Hockey Now article but I just kept thinking about different tidbits and just can’t help myself lol and ofc I had to scramble and do this on the last day. feel free to add stuffs or correct me.
okay. last one for real.
and he is indeed playing on stages much larger than the pond right now. don’t forget to watch him play against the oilers tonight and cheer for him extra hard for me.
Ashlyn: "Who's your roommate?"
OB: "Uh, Nesbitt.
AS: "Ah, ok!"
OB: "Yeah."
AS: "Good roommate?"
OB: "Yeah, he's-he's a good roommate—he's a good roommate, nothing-nothing weird going on, no complaints, nothing—he's all good."
AS: "Clean roommate?"
OB: "Yeah, clean roommate, it's been-it's been great with him."
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