The Making of Sharks’ Star Will Smith

BOSTON — It was the uniform that did it?

San Jose Sharks star rookie Will Smith told San Jose Hockey Now that was the moment that got him really excited about hockey as a kid.

“My dad, one of his best friends, Pat Hunt, actually came by the house with a jersey. So that’s how I got into it,” Smith said. “I just remember playing in house, and I was probably six years old, and that’s kind of when I fell in love.”

That how his dad Bill Smith remembered it too: “He just turned five, and Pat asked him [to play], and he said, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

“But then he was waiting for his uniform. He’s like, When am I getting my uniform? He kept going up to him, bothering him. And then Pat showed up at the house with his uniform, and that was kind of the start of it all.”

Lucky for the San Jose Sharks, who selected Smith with the fourth-overall pick in the 2023 Draft!

Before the Lexington native’s first NHL game in Boston, his San Jose Sharks taking on the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday afternoon, Will Smith and his father Bill Smith spoke about some of the pivotal moments that shaped the 19-year-old rookie’s youth.

Bill also shared some great pics from Will’s childhood.

So what was Will Smith’s second sport? What’s Bill Smith’s role in Will wearing No. 2?

Read the Full Oral History at NBC Sports Bay Area