Oct. 3—GRAND FORKS — Matt Smaby had some long nights.

The Waterloo Black Hawks were in the middle of a United States Hockey League playoff race. They had nine games scheduled in a three-week span.

Then, UND’s head coaching job opened.

Smaby knew immediately he was going for it.

“As a coach, you want to be extremely prepared and detailed,” Smaby said. “You don’t want to sacrifice anything. But I wanted to be prepared for the interview. There were late nights, long hours.”

He had his first interview on a Friday. UND called him back for a second interview the next day.

Fighting Hawks athletic director Bill Chaves and deputy athletic director Erik Martinson hired Dane Jackson, but they came to the same conclusion many in the hockey world have about Smaby — that he’s a rising star.

“I didn’t get it, but the experience going through it was outstanding,” Smaby said. “I was really happy with the process. Obviously, they chose Dane, which was a wonderful choice.”

Smaby immediately became a top candidate for the open associate head coaching position — if he wanted to go for that job.

A couple of weeks passed before UND posted it. Smaby took that time to digest not getting the head job and to push Waterloo into the playoffs.

Once the job was posted, Smaby applied.

“I have a strong tie to the program and a passion for the program,” Smaby said. “I have wanted the program to do extremely well. To get an opportunity to come back and be involved, to be a part of it, it got to the point where it was a no-brainer. My family has deep ties and connections to the area. The more and more I thought it about it, it became a no-brainer for me and my family.”

Before accepting the job, Smaby met with Jackson to ensure their visions aligned.

While they both have their own coaching styles, Smaby said they believe in the same core principles.

“As much as we see the game alike — the way we want to play — we both get there in different ways,” Smaby said. “We’re coming from it with the same end goal in mind. The end part was extremely important — the drive to win, who we wanted to be as a team in regards to culture.

“Dane is a different coach than I am. I have a lot of respect for him. There are a ton of things I can learn. He’s done things at a high level for a long time. We’re like-minded. We do things differently, but it complements one another.”

Smaby, 40, coached Waterloo to within a goal of winning its first Clark Cup in 21 years. The Black Hawks lost in overtime of a decisive Game 5 against Muskegon.

“It was such a good group, such a good team, for them not to taste success at the end, I was disappointed for them,” Smaby said. “I thought they deserved that. It stings to this day. The boys gave everything they had.”

The day after the series ended, UND announced Smaby as associate head coach.

It is Smaby’s third time in Grand Forks.

He played from 2003-06, serving as team captain during his junior year. He led a team with 13 freshmen to the NCAA Frozen Four that season.

After an 11-year professional playing career that involved four seasons with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and back-to-back championships with Munich in Germany’s top league, Smaby returned to Grand Forks to finish his degree.

He worked with the team as a student from 2017-19.

“He made such a strong impression when he was here as a student manager,” Jackson said. “There’s so much presence in Matt. He’s such a character guy, a hard worker, a sharp person. I thought he embodied everything we want to be. I wanted our guys to be able to follow him.

“We had some good people out there that we looked at and felt strongly about (for the associate head coaching position). But you have to make tough choices.”

Smaby has been a leader throughout his life.

He’s the only person to have captained both Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews.

Smaby captained Crosby at Shattuck-St. Mary’s. He captained Toews at UND. Those two have won six Stanley Cups as captains of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks.

Smaby also was captain in Munich.

“I’ve been on a plethora of different teams with different levels of success,” Smaby said. “At Shattuck, we won the national championship. In the NCAA, we made the Frozen Four twice. In the NHL with Tampa, we were terrible. I was in Europe for four years and we won back-to-back. You learn from all of them. The ones you try to emulate (as a coach) are the ones where you have success.

“There’s a little something different about every team, but what were the consistent things? The big part you find is No. 1, it’s the character and quality of people, the care the coaches have and everyone playing together. The playing style. . . there are 100 different ways, but if you have intangibles, they can separate winning teams from the rest.”

Smaby thrives with Xs and Os, team building and culture building.

Jackson plans to give him prominent assignments — including the penalty kill. Jackson has coached the penalty kill at UND for 19 years, but is handing it off.

“He’s wide open to ideas,” Smaby said of Jackson. “We’re doing things a little differently than we’ve done in the past, without losing what’s brought success over an extended period of time. He’s a great hockey mind. I’m going to lean on him a lot. But I’m excited for that challenge.”

Smaby has familiarity with UND’s staff.

He worked with UND general manager Bryn Chyzyk the last four years in Waterloo. Chyzyk was hired as UND’s general manager a month before Smaby.

“I think his communication and his details are two qualities that are special with Matt,” Chyzyk said. “As a GM, I did not have a lot of things come on my plate. He handled everything with the players. There was never any gray area when agents were calling me.

“His level of detail — video work, structure, everything — is (impressive). His phrase is ‘How you do anything is how you do everything.’ That’s how he approaches every day.”

Before accepting the UND associate head coaching job, Smaby assessed how the staff would work together.

He said Waterloo’s staff had synergy, and that needed to be the same.

“You spend so much time together, that part had to be great,” Smaby said. “I had to be excited. I feel we have that. We work really well together. We all respect each other’s opinions. Sitting in our war room, planning ahead, it doesn’t feel like work. Hopefully, that translates to the guys. I know as a player, I could feel when staffs were all in sync. I know we have that with our group.”

Who: Manitoba at UND.

When: 6:07 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Ralph Engelstad Arena.

TV: Midco Sports (GF Ch. 27/622 HD).

Radio: Cat Country (100.3 FM).