Tommy Smith (ice hockey player)

Tommy Smith
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1973
Date of birth	September 27, 1885
place of birth	Ottawa , Ontario , Canada
date of death	August 1, 1966
size	168 cm
Weight	68 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1903-1905	Ottawa Emmetts
1905-1906	Ottawa Victoria's Ottawa Silver Seven
1906-1907	Pittsburgh Professionals
1907-1908	Pittsburgh Lyceum
1908-1909	Brantford Professionals
1909	Pittsburgh Bankers Haileybury Hockey Club
1909-1910	Brantford Redmen
1910-1911	Applied to professionals
1911-1912	Moncton Victorias
1912-1914	Quebec Bulldogs
1914-1915	Toronto Shamrocks
1915-1916	Quebec Bulldogs
1916-1917	Canadiens de Montréal
1919-1920	Quebec Bulldogs

Thomas Joseph "Tommy" Smith (born September 27, 1885 in Ottawa , Ontario ; † August 1, 1966 ) was a Canadian ice hockey player and coach who worked for the Quebec Bulldogs , Toronto Shamrocks and during his active career between 1905 and 1920 Canadiens de Montréal has played in the National Hockey Association as well as exclusively for the Bulldogs in the National Hockey League on the position of the center . During his career, Smith won the Stanley Cup twice in service with the Ottawa Silver Seven in 1906 and the Quebec Bulldogs seven years later . In 1973 he was posthumously awarded the Hockey Hall of Fame for his services. Smith was considered one of the best and most talented players in his playing days.

His two older brothers, Alf Smith , also Hall of Fame members, and Harry Smith were also successful ice hockey players and Stanley Cup winners at the turn of the century.

Career

Smith was born in the Canadian capital Ottawa and played between 1903 and 1905 first in the amateur field for the Ottawa Emmetts. He then went on the ice for a year for the Ottawa Victorias from the Federal Amateur Hockey League. The then 20-year-old became the team's top goalscorer right away with twelve goals in eight games. In the course of the season he was asked by the Ottawa Silver Seven , where he helped out in three games for his brother Harry Smith who was unable to attend. In these three games he scored six goals, so he also represented the team in the matches for the Stanley Cup . Ultimately, the Silver Seven won the trophy and Smith his first title.

Smith in the Pittsburgh Lyceum jersey

After the success, the center forward moved to the United States , where he switched to the professional field to the Pittsburgh Professionals from the International Professional Hockey League. There he collected 44 scorer points in 23 games , including 31 goals. Because of his scoring qualities, Smith was interesting for numerous teams in the following years and so he played for numerous teams in order to earn a living. In addition to the Pittsburgh station , he was also active in Brantford , Haileybury , Galt and Moncton until 1912 , where he always caused a stir with numerous goals and led both the Galt Professionals and Moncton Victorias to the Stanley Cup final. Both appearances were, however, not marked by success. Only in the 1909/10 season at the Brantford Redmen could the attacker not leave his mark because he was sick with typhus .

In the final series with Moncton against the Quebec Bulldogs from the National Hockey Association Smith had made the opponent's attention with his performances, who secured his services for the 1912/13 season . In Quebec the striker developed alongside Joe Malone to one of the franchise's two guarantors of success and was instrumental in reaching the Stanley Cup final again with 39 goals in 18 games this season. With four more goals in the two finals, he secured the team a successful title defense and personally his second cup win. In the following season he confirmed his offensive production and was the NHA's best scorer for the first time. Before the start of the 1914/15 season in December 1914, however, the striker was handed over to league rivals Toronto Shamrocks . He let Jack McDonald move to Quebec for it. Smith's time in Toronto lasted only ten games and ended after just over a month, as the Bulldogs bought back their former player. Smith reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in the course of the game year and was again by far the best points collector in the league. The season 1915/16 spent Smith also in Quebec before the Bulldogs again transferred its striker in the league. In exchange for Sammy Hebert , Smith ended up with the Canadiens de Montréal , where he spent the final season of the NHA before it went out of business. Smith also ended his career at the age of 32. He went down in NHA history as the fourth top scorer behind Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde and Didier Pitre with 141 goals .

Following his active career, Smith tried his hand at coaching . At first he was in charge of Ottawa Transport from 1917 to 1918, and the Glace Bay Miners in the following season. When the Quebec Bulldogs finally started playing in the NHA successor league , the National Hockey League , founded in 1917 after a two-year break for the 1919/20 season , Smith also returned to the ice as an active player. He played ten games in which he only managed one assist before resigning a second and final time.

Smith died on August 1, 1966, at the age of 81, of complications from pneumonia . In 1973 he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for his services to ice hockey .

Achievements and Awards

1906 Stanley Cup win with the Ottawa Silver Seven 1913 O'Brien Trophy win with the Quebec Bulldogs 1913 Stanley Cup win with the Quebec Bulldogs 1914 NHA top scorer

1914 NHA top scorer 1915 NHA top scorer 1915 NHA top scorer 1973 Admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame (posthumously)

Career statistics

				Regular season						Play-offs
season	team	league		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM		Sp	T	V	Pt	SM
1905/06	Ottawa Victorias	PALE		8th	12	0	12	-		-	-	-	-	-
1906	Ottawa Silver Seven	ECAHA		3	6th	0	6th	12		1	0	0	0	9
1906/07	Pittsburgh Professionals	IPHL		23	31	13	44	47		-	-	-	-	-
1907/08	Pittsburgh Lyceum	WPHL		16	33	0	33	-		1	2	0	2	-
1908/09	Pittsburgh Lyceum	WPHL		6th	15th	0	15th	-		-	-	-	-	-
	Pittsburgh Bankers	WPHL		-	-	-	-	-		3	3	0	3	3
	Brantford Indians	OPHL		13	40	0	40	30th		-	-	-	-	-
	Haileybury Hockey Club	TPHL		1	3	0	3	2		2	3	0	3	0
1909/10	Brantford Indians	OPHL		2	1	0	1	3		-	-	-	-	-
1910/11	Applied to professionals	OPHL		18th	22nd	0	22nd	-		3	10	0	10	0
	Applied to professionals	Stanley Cup								1	1	0	1	-
1911/12	Moncton Victorias	MPHL		18th	53	0	53	48		-	-	-	-	-
	Moncton Victorias	Stanley Cup								2	2	0	2	3
1912/13	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA		18th	39	0	39	30th		-	-	-	-	-
	Quebec Bulldogs	Stanley Cup								2	4th	0	4th	0
1913/14	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA		20th	39	6th	45	35		-	-	-	-	-
1914/15	Toronto Shamrocks	NHA		10	17th	2	19th	14th		-	-	-	-	-
	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA		9	23	2	25th	29		-	-	-	-	-
1915/16	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA		22nd	16	3	19th	30th		-	-	-	-	-
1916/17	Canadiens de Montréal	NHA		14th	7th	4th	11	32		2	2	0	2	11
	Canadiens de Montréal	Stanley Cup								4th	2	0	2	3
1917/18	Ottawa Transportation	OCHL		Employment as a trainer
1918/19	Glace Bay Miners	CBSHL		Employment as a trainer
1919/20	Quebec Bulldogs	NHL		10	0	1	1	11	-	-	-	-	-
NHA total				93	141	17th	158	170	2	0	2	2	11
NHL overall				10	0	1	1	11	-	-	-	-	-
Stanley Cup overall									9	9	0	9	6th

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; ¹  play-downs / relegation )

Web links

• Tommy Smith in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Tommy Smith at eliteprospects.com (English)