Alex Smart

Alexander Smart (May 29, 1918 – April 18, 2005) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played 8 games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1942–43 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1938 to 1950, was mainly spent in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.

Playing career Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Smart played junior hockey in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Portage Terriers for two seasons. In 1937–38, joined the senior ranks with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association and scored 23 points in 12 games at a goal-per-game pace. The following season, he began a three-year stint in the Montreal City Hockey League (MCHL) with the Verdun Maple Leafs and Montreal Sr. Canadiens.

In 1941–42, Smart moved with the Sr. Canadiens to the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). Affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, Smart was called up to the NHL in January of the 1942–43 NHL season and, on January 14, became the first player in league history to score a hat trick in his NHL debut; this feat would not be matched for 36 years, by Réal Cloutier at the start of the 1979–80 NHL season, and since repeated by only Fabian Brunnström (2008), Derek Stepan (2010), Ryan Poehling (2019), and not exceeded until Auston Matthews (2016), who scored four. He completed the season with 5 goals and 2 assists in 8 games – the lone NHL stint of his career.

Smart spent the remainder of his career in the QSHL with the Montreal Royals and Ottawa Senators except for one more season in the MCHL with the Montreal Vickers and the final season of his career in the OVHL with Eastview St. Charles. He recorded a career-high 66 points in 47 games with the Senators in 1947–48, then helped the club to an Allan Cup in 1949 as Canada's senior amateur champions. Smart retired after the 1950–51 season, spent with Eastview.

Post-playing career After retiring from the QSHL, Smart became a scout for the Los Angeles Kings and worked with Goodyear Tire for forty years.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1935–36 Portage Terriers MJHL 16 10 4 14 4 6 9 6 15 2 1936–37 Portage Terriers MJHL 16 15 4 19 10 4 0 2 2 6 1937–38 Toronto Marlboros OHA 12 12 11 23 10 6 4 8 12 9 1938–39 Verdun Maple Leafs QSHL 22 6 9 15 18 2 1 1 2 4 1939–40 Verdun Maple Leafs QSHL 21 8 9 17 13 8 7 1 8 9 1940–41 Montreal Senior Canadiens MCHL 33 7 15 22 21 — — — — — 1941–42 Montreal Senior Canadiens QSHL 36 15 6 21 40 6 4 4 8 4 1942–43 Montreal Canadiens NHL 8 5 2 7 0 — — — — — 1942–43 Montreal Senior Canadiens QSHL 23 12 11 23 8 — — — — — 1943–44 Montreal Royals QSHL 20 9 14 23 9 5 4 3 7 2 1944–45 Montreal Royals QSHL 24 19 19 38 12 7 2 3 5 2 1945–46 Montreal Royals QSHL 37 16 24 40 33 11 5 5 10 6 1946–47 Ottawa Senators QSHL 38 14 21 35 26 9 1 6 7 4 1947–48 Ottawa Senators QSHL 47 28 38 66 11 12 2 8 10 6 1947–48 Ottawa Senators Al-Cup — — — — — 10 4 7 11 2 1948–49 Ottawa Senators QSHL 40 14 27 41 29 11 3 4 7 6 1948–49 Ottawa Senators Al-Cup — — — — — 14 1 4 5 2 1949–50 Ottawa Senators QSHL 28 8 12 20 28 7 0 3 3 12 QSHL totals 336 149 190 339 227 78 29 38 67 55 NHL totals 8 5 2 7 0 — — — — —