Darryl Smith called up to Manitoba Moose

The Laredo Bucks have announced Wednesday that reigning rookie of the year Darryl Smith has been called up to the Manitoba Moose and is expected to be in the line up for Manitoba when they take on the Houston Aeros at the Toyota Center.

This is his 2nd career AHL Call up with the other coming back last year when he played 4 games for the Houston Aeros last season.

The 22 year old Smith has scored 9 career points (4G 5A) in 6 games for the Laredo Bucks so far this season and has a +2 rating. He already has 2 multi goal games and a game winning goal in the early going in the CHL as the Bucks look to contend for the Southern Conference Title this season.

"We knew that Smitty had a lot of teams looking at him this offseason, this is another great chance for him," said Laredo Bucks President/GM and head coach Terry Ruskowski. "We are not sure how long he will be in Manitoba, but we hope he does well for them."

"I'm excited for another shot at the American Hockey League Level", this is a great opportunity for me to play at the next level," Smith said. "I'm looking forward to see what I can bring to the team.

Smith attended NHL Training Camp with the Atlanta Thrashers, as well as an AHL Training Camp with the Chicago Wolves before making his way back to Laredo for the start of the 2009-2010 season.

Smith had a banner year for the Bucks in 2008-2009. In addition to being named rookie of th year, Smith was also the All Star Game MVP, All Rookie Team, and the Team MVP last season. He put up 70 Points (34G 36A) in the regular season to go along with 8 points in 5 playoff games before losing to the Odessa Jackalopes in the Southern Conference Semifinals. He lead all rookies and was 2nd overall in goals in the league last year.

On December 30 of last season Smith, a native of Thorold, Ontario, was called up to the Houston Aeros after attending the teams training camp in the fall of 2008.