Smyth's big adventure

As you probably read, Ryan Smyth on Wednesday participated in the Olympic torch relay in his hometown of Banff, Alberta, then came back to Los Angeles on Thursday and scored the game-tying goal in the third period. In between? A long day. Smyth had intended to fly back to L.A. on Wednesday night, but got caught in Alberta because of weather delays, and his chartered flight didn’t land in L.A. until approximately 11:30 a.m. Here’s how the day went…

SMYTH: “I was supposed to fly at 10:30 (p.m. Wednesday), and the plane didn’t touch down. Then I tried to get out at 3 in the morning and it didn’t go. Then I had to drive from Calgary to Edmonton, and fly out of Edmonton this morning at 9 o’clock (Thursday morning). It was a long day for my whole family.”

But a rewarding one, Smyth said, for “Captain Canada,” who won Olympic gold in 2002 for Canada and was also on the 2006 team.

SMYTH: “Unbelievable. In ’88, I carried the torch. It was a relay torch; just pass it along. When it came through Banff and Canmore, being there was special. I brought my family (Wednesday). I wanted my family to be a part of it, and it was a great experience. There were like 10,000 people and it was an honor.”