Billy Smith (ice hockey player)
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1993 | |
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Date of birth | December 12, 1950 |
place of birth | Perth , Ontario , Canada |
size | 178 cm |
Weight | 79 kg |
position | goalkeeper |
Catch hand | Left |
Draft | |
NHL Amateur Draft |
1978 , 5th round, 59th position Los Angeles Kings |
Career stations | |
1968-1969 | Smiths Falls Bears |
1969-1970 | Cornwall Royals |
1970-1972 | Springfield Kings |
1972-1989 | New York Islanders |
William John "Billy" Smith (born December 12, 1950 in Perth , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey goalkeeper who played from 1971 to 1989 for the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders in the National Hockey League .
Career
Smith played in the QMJHL during his junior years with the Cornwall Royals . In the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft , the Los Angeles Kings selected him in the fifth round as 59th. In the American Hockey League he played on the farm team for the Springfield Kings before coming to his first five appearances in the NHL in the 1971/72 season .
In the expansion draft , the New York Islanders had brought Smith from the Los Angeles Kings. In 1975 he was substituted after three defeats and substitute Glenn Resch brought the team back into the series. The early 1980s were his playoff years. It blossomed after an average regular season. His style of play, in which he worked a lot with his racket, led the Islanders to win the Stanley Cup four times in a row from 1980 to 1983 . He had already caused a stir on November 28, 1979 when he was the last player on the puck in a game against the Colorado Rockies before Rob Ramage played it into his own goal. When he ended his career in 1989, he was the most successful goalkeeper with 88 wins in the playoffs and was only overtaken by Patrick Roy a few years later .
After his active career, he worked as an assistant and goalkeeping coach for the Florida Panthers .
In 1993 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame .
Achievements and Awards
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NHL statistics
Seasons | Games | Victory cut | Conceded goal | Shutouts | |
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Regular season | 18th | 680 | 0.556 | 3.17 | 22nd |
Playoffs | 13 | 132 | 0.710 | 2.73 | 5 |
Web links
- Billy Smith in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
- Billy Smith at hockeydb.com (English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Smith, Billy |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, William John |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian ice hockey player |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1950 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Perth , Ontario, Ontario, Canada |