Billy Smith (ice hockey player)

Billy Smith
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1993
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

1971 Calder Cup win with the Springfield Kings 1978 NHL All-Star Game 1978 MVP of the NHL All-Star Game 1980 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders 1981 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders 1982 Stanley Cup win with the New York Icelanders

1982 NHL First All-Star Team 1982 Vezina Trophy 1983 Stanley Cup win with the New York Islanders 1983 Conn Smythe Trophy 1983 William M. Jennings Trophy (together with Roland Melanson ) 1993 inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Victory cut	Conceded goal	Shutouts
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)