Billy Smith (ice hockey)

Billy Smith
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1993
Born	December 12, 1950 Perth, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	AHL  Springfield Kings NHL  Los Angeles Kings  New York Islanders
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	59th overall, 1970 Los Angeles Kings
Playing career	1970–1989

William John Smith, better known as Billy Smith, (born December 12, 1950) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender and is best known for winning four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders and being the first goalie to be credited with a goal.

Playing career

NHL beginnings

Smith was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the 5th round of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft from the Cornwall Royals of the QMJHL. He played two seasons with the Kings' minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League's Springfield Kings, and spent a brief stint with the big-league Kings after winning a Calder Cup for Springfield in 1971.

He was drafted in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft by the New York Islanders; he was the second player picked by the team. After sharing goaltending duties with Gerry Desjardins for two years, he got the starting job all to himself in 1974–75 when Desjardins bolted to the World Hockey Association. That season, he led the Islanders to their first playoff appearance.

New York Islanders

Smith played in the 1978 All-Star Game, where he was named MVP. For the rest of the decade, he shared time in the Islanders net with Glenn Resch, where they combined to form perhaps the top goaltending duo in the NHL at the time. This changed in the 1980 playoffs, when the Isles rode Smith's goaltending to their first of four consecutive Stanley Cups, firmly establishing Smith as the team's starting goaltender. Resch was dealt to the Colorado Rockies the following season. Smith went on to become a First Team All-Star and Vezina Trophy winner in 1982. In 1983, he won the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed (shared with Roland Melanson). He was chosen to play for Canada in the 1981 Canada Cup, but was unable to play due to an injury sustained in a pre-tournament game.

Smith's regular season success, however, was surpassed by his performances in the playoffs, as he helped the Islanders win four straight Stanley Cups (1980–83), reach the finals five straight times (1980–84), and win a record 19 consecutive playoff series from 1980–84.

His single most famous game may be his 2–0 victory in the first game of the 1983 Stanley Cup finals against the Edmonton Oilers, shutting out the likes of Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Paul Coffey. The Islanders went on to sweep the Oilers in 4 games, with Smith allowing the Oilers only 6 goals and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player in the Playoffs. A year later, Smith broke the record for the most Playoff victories: he led all goaltenders in playoff victories in total and in every individual year between 1980 and 1984. Then in 1985, Smith led the Islanders to win 3 straight games after being down 0–2 to the Washington Capitals, the first time such a comeback occurred in the NHL.^[1] Smith's playoff success feeds into his reputation as the supreme "money" goalie (or "clutch" goaltender) of his era, the person you would want in net with the season on the line. Teammates and observers have said that Smith seemed able to sense when he needed to be perfect to win and when he could give up five goals and still come away with the victory.

First NHL goal by a goaltender

Smith was also the first NHL goaltender to be credited with scoring a goal.^[2] On November 28, 1979, in a game between the Islanders and the Colorado Rockies, the Rockies' goaltender left the ice for an extra attacker after a delayed penalty call was called on the Islanders. The puck deflected off the chest protector of the Islanders' Smith into the corner. Colorado rookie Rob Ramage picked up the puck and accidentally made a blind pass from the corner boards in the opposing zone to the blue line. Nobody was there to receive the pass, and so the puck sailed all the way down the length of the ice and into the Colorado net. Smith had been the last Islander to touch the puck, and was credited with a goal.

Retirement

Smith retired in 1989; he was the last original Islander still on the team. After four years as the Islanders' goaltending coach, he followed longtime Islander general manager Bill Torrey to the expansion Florida Panthers in the same role, serving there until his retirement in 2000. He had spent 30 years at ice level in the NHL, the last 27 of them alongside Torrey with the Islanders (1973-1992) and the Panthers (1992-2000).

The Islanders retired his #31 on February 20, 1993. Later that year, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the only goalie inducted in the Hall in the 1990s. In 1998, he was ranked number 80 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Personality

He was nicknamed "Battlin' Billy" or "Hatchet Man" for his fiery temper and unabashed use of the stick or blocker on players crowding his crease.

Smith was also noted for his displays of feigned injuries that would often lead to penalties against opponents, for whom he carried an undisguised enmity. For instance, in Game Four of the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals, Smith's dive resulted in referee Andy Van Hellemond handing a five-minute penalty to Glenn Anderson of the Edmonton Oilers. Van Hellemond said that this was "making a bit of a fool of me", and when he officiated Game One of the 1984 Finals, a rematch of the Islanders and Oilers, he called no penalty when Smith and Anderson collided.^[3]

Smith refused to participate in the traditional handshakes between teams at the end of a playoff series, as to not feel any worse after a loss than he already did, being very passionate about games that put the ranking of their team on the line.

A notable incident with Smith occurred in practice where then-teammate Mike Bossy fired a shot at Smith to which Smith objected. Smith charged after Bossy with his stick but was tackled by teammates before Smith took his frustrations out on Bossy.

Billy Smith with the New York Islanders

Awards and achievements

• Calder Cup championship in 1971.
• Played in 1978 NHL All-Star Game.
• Selected to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1982.
• Vezina Trophy winner in 1982.
• Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1983.
• William M. Jennings Trophy winner in 1983 (shared with Roland Melanson).
• Stanley Cup championships in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983.
• First NHL goalie to be credited with a goal in 1979.
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.
• His #31 jersey was retired by the New York Islanders on February 20, 1993.
• In 1998, he was ranked number 80 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
• 1978 NHL All-Star Game MVP.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1969–70	Cornwall Royals	QMJHL		55	—	—	—	2946	249	1	4.52	.887
1970–71	Springfield Kings	AHL		49	19	20	6	2728	160	2	3.51	—
1971–72	Springfield Kings	AHL		28	24	3	1	1649	77	4	2.80	.882
1971–72	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		5	1	3	1	300	23	0	4.60	.871
1972–73	New York Islanders	NHL		37	7	24	3	2122	147	3	4.16	.878
1973–74	New York Islanders	NHL		46	9	23	12	2615	134	3	3.07	.897
1974–75	New York Islanders	NHL		58	21	18	17	3368	156	3	2.78	.904
1975–76	New York Islanders	NHL		39	19	10	9	2254	98	3	2.61	.908
1976–77	New York Islanders	NHL		36	21	8	6	2089	87	2	2.50	.916
1977–78	New York Islanders	NHL		38	20	8	8	2154	85	2	2.65	.909
1978–79	New York Islanders	NHL		40	25	8	4	2261	108	1	2.87	.899
1979–80	New York Islanders	NHL		38	15	14	7	2114	104	2	2.95	.898
1980–81	New York Islanders	NHL		41	22	10	8	2363	129	2	3.28	.895
1981–82	New York Islanders	NHL		46	32	9	4	2685	133	0	2.97	.900
1982–83	New York Islanders	NHL		41	18	14	7	2340	112	1	2.87	.906
1983–84	New York Islanders	NHL		42	23	13	2	2279	130	2	3.42	.896
1984–85	New York Islanders	NHL		37	18	14	3	2090	133	0	3.82	.879
1985–86	New York Islanders	NHL		41	20	14	4	2308	143	1	3.72	.881
1986–87	New York Islanders	NHL		40	14	18	5	2252	132	1	3.52	.869
1987–88	New York Islanders	NHL		38	17	14	5	2107	113	2	3.22	.893
1988–89	New York Islanders	NHL		17	3	11	0	730	54	0	3.22	.851
NHL totals				680	305	233	105	38,431	2,031	22	3.17	.894

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1969–70	Cornwall Royals	QMJHL		6	—	—	360	14	1	2.33	.935
1970–71	Springfield Kings	AHL		11	9	1	682	29	1	2.56	—
1971–72	Springfield Kings	AHL		4	1	2	192	13	0	4.06	—
1974–75	New York Islanders	NHL		6	1	4	333	23	0	4.14	.883
1975–76	New York Islanders	NHL		8	4	3	437	21	0	2.88	.892
1976–77	New York Islanders	NHL		10	7	3	580	27	0	2.79	.912
1977–78	New York Islanders	NHL		1	0	0	47	1	0	1.28	.929
1978–79	New York Islanders	NHL		5	4	1	315	10	1	1.90	.932
1979–80	New York Islanders	NHL		20	15	4	1198	56	1	2.80	.902
1980–81	New York Islanders	NHL		17	14	3	994	42	0	2.54	.904
1981–82	New York Islanders	NHL		18	15	3	1120	47	1	2.52	.906
1982–83	New York Islanders	NHL		17	13	3	962	43	3	2.68	.912
1983–84	New York Islanders	NHL		21	12	8	1190	54	0	2.72	.905
1984–85	New York Islanders	NHL		6	3	3	342	19	0	3.33	.896
1985–86	New York Islanders	NHL		1	0	1	60	4	0	4.00	.882
1986–87	New York Islanders	NHL		2	0	0	67	1	0	0.90	.955
NHL totals				132	88	36	7645	348	6	2.73	.905

See also

• List of NHL goaltenders with 300 wins

References

1. Wolff, Craig (17 April 1985). "ISLANDERS TOP CAPITALS TO COMPLETE COMEBACK". New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
2. Vecsey, George (23 March 1981). "FOR ISLANDERS' BILLY SMITH, THR (sic) GAME IS A JOB, THE GOAL IS HIS TURF". New York Times. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database