24-02-2025
Laced up, he goes for a once-inconceivable goal
'When it first happened, we didn't know if he'd survive,' says his father, Peter. 'Where he is today is a miracle in many ways.'
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Endicott Gulls captain Jack Smiley, 25, is all smiles as he puts his skates on before his return to the ice after suffering a stroke and partial paralysis three years ago.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
After his stroke on Feb. 21, 2022, doctors at Mass General Hospital's neurological care unit couldn't predict if then 22-year-old would ever walk again.
When he transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital he still couldn't walk, talk, or eat.
On Feb. 15, the 6′5″ senior right wing skated three shifts in a competitive NCAA hockey game on Senior Day before nearly 500 cheering fans.
His family, doctor, medical team, former teammates, and alumni were there. Kids held signs with dozens of hearts drawn on them. His mother, Debi, held a blowup photograph of him. She wept when she was presented with roses from the college and a big
bearhug
from her son, the last of the seniors to be introduced.
Then it was time for what he calls 'Big Boy Hockey.'
Jack Smiley gets a standing ovation and hugs from his mom, Debi, as he is introduced last during Senior Day. "I'm a mom and yes I was very worried," she said. "But I was very excited for him because he's worked really hard for this moment."
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
'The guy I lined up against said he was happy for me. But other than that, we were out there to compete, and that's all I wanted. I wanted a real hockey game.'
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The first thing Smiley — known as Smiles by his teammates — did was camp out in front of the Johnson & Wales net. In a spirited display, he left it all on the ice. He was fearless in the corners and in the crease. He moved the puck and he looked like he belonged out there.
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'We treated him no different,' says Conner Lindsoe, a Johnson & Wales defenseman. 'He played hard. He made some good plays. He played a solid game.'
His journey to get here is inspirational, even as he humbly downplays it.
'I always had the expectation to accomplish what I set out to do so it didn't feel like a miracle to me,' he says.
Days after being hospitalized, he told MGH neurologists he would be back on the ice in three weeks. Somehow, he did just that with a team of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital therapists pushing him on a walker.
Gulls captain Jack Smiley shows some moves as he advances the puck up ice in third period action against the Wildcats.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
William Santana, a physical therapist, says Smiley far exceeded their expectations. They knew he was young, strong, and driven. But his was a big mountain to climb.
'To be here a couple of years out and be playing competitively, that's unheard of,' he says. 'Now we're here to see it, and it's amazing. He's come full circle.'
Smiley, 25, says it's all about hard work and a positive energy.
'I just never really let myself feel down and out,' he says. 'I think the first couple of days, those first few days after the stroke happened, I was in complete shock, crying every day, all day. I didn't really know what had happened, but it was always (the belief) that I'll bounce back.'
After rehab, he returned to his home in Washington Crossing, Pa. He studied dancing with a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader and worked out with a mixed martial arts fighter.
Young fans show Jack Smiley, nicknamed Smiles, some love and plenty of hearts as he took the ice.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
When he came back to school, he skated with the team, even though he would fall, he said, 'like 19 times a day,' during noncontact drills.
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Smiley swam the icy Atlantic to wake up his brain. He worked out like a man possessed and also advocated for stroke survivors. He helped the coach with practice drills and he became a social media star for his inspirational messages.
He vowed to play on Senior Day last year, just to skate one shift with the team he started out with.
That didn't happen. There were still limitations.
'Part of what makes Jack amazing is he is slightly delusional,' says Endicott head coach A.J. Tolan.
The two have a special bond. When Tolan played at the University of Lowell, he caught a puck in the throat and had to have a tracheotomy operation just to breathe. His son, Cy, was born the day before Smiley's injury, and he went back and forth between two hospitals despite COVID restrictions.
'We would all joke that he started relearning to walk and move around about the same time as Cy was walking and falling in the locker room. And we were all so excited. But then from the day he got his speech back, he's just been torturing us all that we need him in front of the net on the power play.'
A week before Senior Day 2024, Coach had a heart-to-heart talk with number 10.
Jack Smiley congratulates Gull teammate Bret Beale after Endicott score a first period goal,
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
'You can skate out there, but it would be an honorary shift. The other team would be told not to play you hard because you're not where you can handle that, and it would be a risk for injury,' Tolan told him.
'I thought about it a little bit,' Smiley says. 'But I eventually decided I might as well try to make it happen next year, a real game, a real competitive shift.'
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He got to do that and then some.
'It was surreal being back out on the ice' he says.
After the first shift, he returned in the third period, when his Gulls teammates peppered the Wildcats goalie with a season high 61 shots to take a 4-1 lead.
Late in the game, when Johnson & Wales pulled its goalie, Coach Tolan wouldn't let Smiley sub out. In Smiley's dreams, he scores with a laser beam slap shot.
Jack Smiley left it all on the ice in his return to play. Here he returns to the Gulls bench after a strenuous and successful first shift.
"To get this chance and to get the opportunity to put the game jersey back on, it means the world to me," he says.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
'We were trying to get him one,' says Tolan.
Every time he got near the puck 500 hearts started to pitter patter as one.
Smiley nearly did get an open look at the net but a teammate's pass took a crazy bounce and it hopped over his stick.
'Yes, the puck bounced and maybe that was unlucky, maybe I would've scored, but that is hockey and that's just the way it goes sometimes,' he says.
Ever the ultimate teammate, he would not leave the defensive zone early because Johnson & Wales had a six-to four-man advantage.
'When that happens the top priority is to not let the other team score,' he says.
After the final buzzer, the team swallowed him in hugs. Then players banged their sticks on the ice and chanted 'Smi-ley.' Coach hugged him and told him he loved him.
'I just think he's a light in the world when you get to see him every day. He makes everyone's day better that he touches on a daily basis,' he says.
Smiley (right) gets a hug from teammate Primo Self
after the final buzzer of a 4-1 Endicott victory.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
In the locker room, the sweat drenched, but a joyful 'Smiles' received a cowboy hat from teammates that is given to the hardest worker.
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'I can't encompass in words truly how much you guys mean to me,' he said.
Then he left the locker room where he was surrounded by kids, looking for autographs. His mom, nervous all during the game, finally relaxes.
She says her son's message is simple.
'To never give up.'
Smiley 'giddy ups' to meet the waiting TV cameras. He says his future is helping other stroke survivors.
'The biggest thing that I would say to someone struggling with any adversity is, 'No one can tell you what's inside of you, what's in your heart, and the drive that you have as a human being. No one else knows that besides you,'' he says.
''Surround yourself with good people that push you and want the best for you, and anything can happen. Just work every day and see where that takes you.''
After the victory, Gulls players surround their captain and chant 'Smiley' as they slap their sticks on the ice.
Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
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