‘”I think it just kind of fits the person I am,” he said. “I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, kind of a blue-collar city, played in Lowell and played in Austin, Minn. … all kind of blue-collar communities and they all play blue-collar hockey. I think that’s what the Buffalo Sabres are about and I think I kind of fit their identity.”‘
'Blue-collar' identity brought Smith to Buffalo
Source: Sabres.com