Color of Hockey: Retired Smith-Pelly 'huge role model' in Black community

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Devante-Smith Pelly, a hero from the Washington Capitals' 2018 Stanley Cup championship who played eight NHL seasons and announced his retirement from professional hockey Friday.

Devante Smith-Pelly decided the end of 2022 was the perfect time to close one chapter of his hockey life and prepare to start another.

The 30-year-old Scarborough, Ontario, native who played eight seasons in the NHL as a forward with four teams took to Instagram on Friday and announced his retirement from professional hockey.

"It was time to move on," Smith-Pelly said later that afternoon. "It's kind of something I thought about over the last two, three weeks and probably three, four days ago I was fine with it. So I might as well just get it out, you know?"

In his post, Smith-Pelly wrote, "I'm grateful for the opportunity to live out my dream of playing in the NHL. Throughout my career I've experienced the lowest of lows and the highest of highs."

Selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round (No. 42) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Smith-Pelly had 101 points (44 goals, 57 assists) in 395 games with the Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals from 2011-19.

Smith-Pelly's apex came in 2018, when he went from a bottom-six forward to a pivotal player in the Capitals' drive to their first Stanley Cup championship.

He scored seven goals in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games, matching his total in 75 regular-season games, including one each in Games 3, 4 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The last goal was by far the biggest, when Smith-Pelly scored on a diving shot on Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at 9:52 of the third period of Game 5 to tie it 3-3 and set the stage for Lars Eller's Cup-winning goal 2:31 later.

That moment became so iconic that the photos of the low-flying Smith-Pelly were available on shop.nhl.com at the time.

"I know how hard it is to win the Stanley Cup and I got to do that," he said, "so obviously that's the top of the top.

"I've watched all those goals so many times, I've watched the whole series, all the games front to back. Maybe I can look at it different now that I'm just done playing, but I definitely watch those games and reminisce a lot, a lot."

Smith-Pelly's 2018 postseason star turn had an impact in Washington, D.C.'s Black community, which has some familiarity with hockey from the Capitals having 11 Black players since joining the NHL in 1974-75 and from the presence of the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Club, North America's oldest minority-oriented youth hockey program that has helped produce a generation of Black players and fans in the area.

But Smith-Pelly's postseason exploits earned him a place in history in the community; his white helmet is part of the Capitals' exhibit honoring their Black players, permanently on display at Capital One Arena.

"It was big, I mean, especially where I did it," Smith-Pelly said of his moment. "I think the combination of the fact that I had a big contribution, the area it was in, plus the history of the team, I think all those things put together makes it a pretty massive accomplishment.

"It's something that I didn't really ... I mean, I kind of had an idea, but as the years go and you're still getting messages. Today I'm getting a lot of messages from Black kids, Black parents. So ... obviously it was massive."

Smith-Pelly made an impact off the ice as well. After 13-year-old Divyne Apollon II was racially taunted when his Maryland-based Metro Maple Leafs youth hockey team played a team from Pennsylvania, Smith-Pelly and Capitals defenseman John Carlson invited Apollon and his teammates to attend a Capitals-St. Louis Blues game on Jan 14, 2019.

"It meant a great deal to my son," Divyne Apollon said. "It was definitely monumental in Divyne's development. Things kind of took off for him after that."

The younger Apollon, now 17, has played for the New Jersey Jr. Titans organization this season and is preparing to play for Amarillo of the North American Hockey League.

Smith-Pelly had to deal with his own encounter with racism when a fan used racist taunts against him during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center in February 2018.

"It's sad that, I mean it's 2018 and we're still talking about the same thing over and ever," he said then. "It's sad that athletes like myself 30, 40 years ago were standing in the same spot saying the same thing. You'd think there'd be some sort of change or progression, but we're still working towards it, I guess, and we're going to keep working towards it."

Tammi Lynch, a 2019 Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award nominee who co-founded Players Against Hate with the elder Apollon, said Smith-Pelly's presence has meant a lot to hockey, especially to players of color.

"He was a huge role model for kids," Lynch said. "I see regularly Facebooks posts pictures their kids have taken with him and, 'We play hockey, too,' and 'My son, my daughter looks up to him.'"

Smith-Pelly played his final NHL season in 2018-19 with the Capitals, with eight points (four goals, four assists) in 54 games. He ventured to China in 2019-20 and played 36 games for Beijing-based Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League, with 11 points (eight goals, three assists).

In 2020-21, he had one assist in 14 games with Ontario, the Los Angeles Kings' American Hockey League affiliate, and played on an all-Black line with Akil Thomas and Quinton Byfield against Bakersfield on March 21, 2021.

Last season, Smith-Pelly had eight points (four goals, four assists) in 24 games with Laval, the Canadiens' AHL affiliate.

He said he was skating and working out and waiting for teams to call this season.

"I really didn't like the options I did have, so it was time to move on," he said.

Smith-Pelly said "there's nothing set in stone" about what's next for him, but he expects it will be hockey-related.

"Yeah, I mean I still love it," he said. "I still enjoyed skating and working out and getting ready for that, but it's just time to love it from a different angle."