Smith has had a chance to play at the rink before, both as a kid and in some NHL preseason contests.
"I think it's pretty cool. Like when you're younger, you see them skate on the ice and then you're able to skate out there. It just feels special you know what I mean. You look around and see all the red seats," he said. "It was pretty cool to go in there and wear an NHL sweater and play against the Wings… I know we won one of them and my family was there, so it was great."
"It's a great arena, and I'm excited to go back."
Smith won't get the start for the Avs in his home state, however. While Bednar admitted he had thought about giving the 27-year-old the nod, the coach said that Calvin Pickard's recent play has earned him the right to begin the game between the pipes.
"I did, but Pick did such a good job now in back-to-back games for me. I thought that his Arizona game, that was a good hard-fought game," Bednar said. "There were quite a few scoring chances each way. We didn't capitalize on ours, and I thought Pick did a great job, looked athletic in net. He kept us in that game because we were unable to score, and he gave us a chance. Then to come out the other night and kind of follow up his performance against the Wings. Now playing him again, I just feel like we have to go back with him."
The contest will also be Bednar's first and only one at Joe Louis Arena.
"There's a lot of history to the rivalry. I think we saw a little taste of that in the stands the other night. There's a lot of red jerseys in our building, and both sets of fans are really engaged," he said. "It's going to be a fun game. It's back-to-back, so there's already a little bit of familiarity coming into this week. So I think it's going to be a good game."