The pair were part of Canada's gold-medal winning team at the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament: Bishop as a 17-year-old and Smith as the team's assistant coach.
Now they're back together in the NHL with Ottawa.
"He was a really competitive guy," Smith remembered of his time with Bishop as Canada beat the USA 4-0 in the final in August 2013 as part of a team that also featured, amongst others, Brayden Point, Aaron Ekblad, Jake Virtanen, Sam Bennett and Robby Fabbri.
The Sens acquired Bishop from Carolina on Jan. 12 and the Newfoundland native has suited up in the team's last three games, averaging 8:20 a night. He registered an assist in Sunday's 4-3 win over Toronto.
"He knows his role," Smith said of Bishop. "Fourth line center that can win some faceoffs, take care of the puck. He's a guy that can skate [and] compete."
The 24-year-old has played in 25 career NHL games, 22 of which came with the Hurricanes who drafted him 127th overall in 2014. His lone NHL goal came Dec. 7, 2018.
His introduction to the Sens has been a baptism by fire, if you will. His three games for the Sens have come against Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver but he didn't feel intimidated going up against a plethora of offensive talent.
"Any team is like that," he said. "They got their guys and you've got to be aware of them. I'll just bring what I can to the table and I'll be ready to go."
With the Covid-19 pandemic, it was nearly a year between competitive games for Bishop. After driving to Ottawa from St. John's, he had to quarantine for two weeks before he was able to join Belleville. He suited up in three games with the Sens in the AHL, scoring once, before getting recalled by Ottawa.
"The first game was close to a year that I had played so it took me a couple of games to try to get my legs under me," Bishop said, who won a Calder Cup in 2019 with Charlotte. "That third game I finally started to feel my legs a little bit but then unfortunately we had an 11-day break and then coming here [to Ottawa and trying to] get into a groove, but that's part of the game.
"You've got to be ready to go when your name is called and I think I've been doing a good job of that."
Aside from Smith, he's got another familiar face as he had previously played alongside Ryan Dzingel when the two were teammates in Carolina.
Now for Bishop, it's about taking it game-by-game and keeping his spot in the lineup.
"He's a guy that's trying to carve his path to stay in the league," Smith said. "You see it a lot. Guys that move around teams but all of a sudden they cling onto a team and a role and maybe Clark can be that guy for us."
