Every Thanksgiving, Kenny Smith invites his teammates who can’t make it home for the holiday to come to dinner at his family’s home in Stoneham, Mass.

In the summer, he is known for grueling, eight-hour workouts in the gym and rink.

And in the dressing room at Bright Hockey Center, he knows when it’s all right to joke around, and when his talented team needs to focus.

“He is,” said teammate and blockmate Rob Fried, “the consummate captain.”

And, as his teammates will tell you, the best part about Smith’s leadership is that it comes to him so naturally.

“Kenny is the perfect person to have as our captain,” senior forward Tim Pettit said. “He is a serious person that everyone listens to, but at the same time he knows how to keep the game fun and make sure that guys enjoy themselves while giving 100 percent.”

Smith is a coach’s dream: talented, hard-working and dedicated. As the Edmonton Oilers’ third-round pick in 2001, he has NHL ambitions, and his off-season regimen is a big reason why.

“During the summer, he was constantly shuttling between the weight room, the track, on-ice training camp and summer league games,” Fried said. “[But] he never complained and always had fun with workouts. During team sprints, he was always at the head of the pack.”

This fall, Smith returned to Harvard in the best shape of his career—something that both his teammates and coach Mark Mazzoleni noticed.

That, combined with the maturity and leadership qualities he exhibited in captaining the U.S. Under-17 and Under-18 teams before coming to Harvard, make quite a captain.

“Kenny is extremely mature and gets along with anyone and everyone,” Fried said. “He is always up to hang out with teammates. He is an extremely bright and mature individual who cares about his teammates above all else.

“Kenny knows exactly when to be your friend and when to be your captain.”

Smith is well aware of the impact a good captain can have, as he was mentored by Peter Capouch ’02, the 5’6, 165-pound defenseman known for his intelligence and grit.

Smith missed the first half of his freshman season with a leg injury, but returned to play the rest of the year in the team’s No. 1 defensive pairing with Capouch.

Capouch, whom Mazzoleni called the best captain he’d ever coached two years ago, mastered the art of anticipating plays and being in the right position.