Sarah Shantz-Smiley

Sarah Shantz-Smiley (born August 24, 1982 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian-born Icelandic ice hockey player and coach.[1] She has been a member of the Iceland women's national ice hockey team since 2011,[2] the same year she was named the Icelandic Women's Ice Hockey Player of the Year.[3]

Sarah Shantz-Smiley
Born (1982-08-24) 24 August 1982
Toronto, Ontario
Height 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight 60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Right
IWHL team
Former teams		 Skautafélag Akureyrar
Windsor Lancers
National team  Iceland
Playing career 2005–present

Playing career

Having played for the Windsor Lancers women's ice hockey program in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Shantz-Smiley graduated in 2005. Following university, she competed with the now-defunct Montreal Axion in the original NWHL. During the 2005-06 NWHL season, Smiley appeared in 35 games, logging 4 goals (of which three were game-winning goals)[4] and 4 assists for 8 points.[5]

In 2006 she signed on to play in the Icelandic Women's Hockey League.[4]

In 2008, Shantz-Smiley would play for a club team in Australia. Smiley has also played for the Iceland national women's team competing in Group B at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship Division II in Korea. During Iceland's first game of the event, Shantz-Smiley earned an assist on a goal scored by Birna Baldursdóttir.[6]

Coaching career

In December 2006, Shantz-Smiley was hired as the head coach of the Icelandic women's national ice hockey team.[7] In 2008 she became the first woman to be the head coach of a men's Ice Hockey team in Iceland when she was hired as the head coach of Skautafélag Akureyrar men's team.[8] Shantz-Smiley also spent team coaching a youth team in the community of Akureyri in 2010.[9][10]

In 2011, Iceland was ranked 29th in the world,[11] and was the host country for the 2011 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships – Division IV. During that same year, Smiley worked with Deirdre Norman from the Women of Winter hockey organization in Toronto and helped launch a women’s division in the Iceland International Ice Hockey Tournament.

Personal

Smiley received an Icelandic citizenship in 2011.[12]

References
  1. Albert Örn Eyþórsson (5 April 2008). "Stoltar skauta stelpurnar". 24 Stundir (in Icelandic). p. 54. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  2. Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (22 February 2020). "Okkur líður vel heima hjá okkur". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. B2.
  3. "Björn og Sarah íshokkífólk ársins". RÚV (in Icelandic). 20 December 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  4. Mark Staffieri (26 October 2015). "Sarah Smiley A Hockey Hero in Her Second Home of Iceland". Women's Hockey Life. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. "Sarah Smiley - National Womens Hockey League - player page". pointstreak.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. https://reports.iihf.hockey/Hydra/281/IHW281901_74_3_0.pdf
  7. "Shantz-Smiley ráðinn þjálfari kvennalandsliðs". ihi.is (in Icelandic). 4 December 2006. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  8. Þröstur Ernir Viðarsson (27 September 2008). "Fyrsta konan til að þjálfa karlalið í íshokkí á Íslandi". Vikudagur (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  9. Arndís Bergsdóttir (17 October 2013). "Börnin okkar læri að elska sjálf sig". Akureyri (in Icelandic). p. 20. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. Martin Merk (22 August 2010). "Iceland's late love for hockey". iihf.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  11. John Garinger (15 March 2012). "For the love of the game: – The Pro & the Amateur". Essex Free Press. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  12. Kristján Jónsson (3 March 2012). "Smiley með landsliði Íslands á HM". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. 1. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
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