Gary Smith

Gary Edward Smith (born February 4, 1944) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Gary is a son of Des Smith and brother of Brian Smith, both former National Hockey League (NHL) players. Smith played for numerous clubs, including the Chicago Black Hawks, Oakland/California Seals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets. He was the co-winner of the Vezina Trophy in the 1971–72 season. Near the end of his career, Smith played for the World Hockey Association in its last season of operation in 1978–79. He played eleven games as the goaltender for the Indianapolis Racers. He went winless in eleven starts and was out of the team by January of 1979. However, at the urging of his wife, he inquired if the Winnipeg Jets were looking for some help after they had lost a game 10-1; two weeks later, the Jets called to see if he was ready to play hockey, which he agreed to. He started ten games and won seven of them before being tabbed to start the 1979 WHA playoffs. He won eight of his ten starts as the Jets won the Avco World Trophy. Smith closed his career out the following year with the Jets in the NHL and the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.

Playing career

Smith played his junior hockey with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons and the Toronto Marlboros. He won a Memorial Cup with the Toronto Marlboros in 1964. Smith made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1965-66 NHL season, and was one of five goalies who played for the Maple Leafs during 1966–67, their most recent Stanley Cup season.

In his first season with Toronto, Smith left his crease in a game against the Montreal Canadiens in an attempt to be the first NHL goalie to score a goal. He reached the Canadiens' blueline before J. C. Tremblay issued a heavy bodycheck. The NHL subsequently introduced a rule prohibiting the goaltender from being involved in play after crossing the center red line. On occasion, Smith continued to attempt to score from within his side of the red line.

He was eventually given the nickname "Suitcase" Smith by Toronto Star journalist Red Burnett due to the large number of teams for which he played; Smith disliked the nickname, stating that his friends called him "Axe". After playing with the dismal California Golden Seals from 1967–68 to 1970–71, with whom he set records in 1970–71 for both the most games played in a single season and most losses in a single season, his first success was sharing the 1971–72 Vezina Trophy with Tony Esposito while with the Chicago Black Hawks. One year later, Smith and Esposito helped lead the Black Hawks to the Stanley Cup Finals, which they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

In 1974–75, he had a fine season with the Vancouver Canucks, with 72 games played and six shutouts. Smith finished fifth place in balloting for the 1975 Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team. The ultimate winner, Bobby Clarke, said in his acceptance speech that Smith was more deserving of the award. The following season, after giving up five goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Smith was pulled from the game but rather than stay on the bench he left the Pacific Coliseum and drove home still wearing his equipment. later reduced to five games, and later said "It's tough driving in your skates." He played in ten games later in the 1978-79 season and won seven of them leading up to the 1979 WHA playoffs. In ten starts as goaltender, Smith won eight of them as a key part of the Winnipeg Jets' 1979 Avco World Trophy championship run against the Edmonton Oilers, who were led by Gretzky. Coincidentally, when Gretzky attended his first NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens, Smith played for the California Golden Seals against the Maple Leafs. While Smith did not have the best relationship with McVie in Washington, the coach did defend him in the press in 1979; Oilers coach Glen Sather raged that Smith "had his stick in front of our guys' faces", accusing the referees of letting him get away from it, while McVie called him "an old time goalie who likes to establish his domain." Smith gave up the last goal in WHA history to Dave Semenko.

Smith was noted for his ritual of removing his entire uniform and goaltending gear between periods and putting it all back on again. He claimed his skate boots would stretch in size, forcing him to wear as many as 13 pairs of socks at times. He performed his undressing routine throughout his career as an active player, even after resolving his skate boot issues.

Smith was also known for punting the puck down the ice, allegedly in at attempt to hit the scoreclock. Brian later became a television sports news anchor in Ottawa, until he was murdered in 1995. In 1996 Gary, at the time a process server in Vancouver, was one of many former players who received a court settlement for pension payments owed by the league, and announced his intention to purchase a racehorse he would name Broadcaster, in honour of his brother.

Gary currently resides in Del Mar, California and continues to manage his horses.

Awards and achievements Memorial Cup championship in 1964 Calder Cup championship in 1966 Vezina Trophy winner in 1972 (shared with Tony Esposito). Played in 1975 NHL All-Star Game Avco World Trophy championship in 1979 Holds NHL record for most losses in a season (48 in 1971)

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1961–62 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHA-Jr. 31 24 6 1 1860 83 3 2.68 — 12 — — 720 36 0 3.00 — 1961–62 Toronto St. Michael's Majors M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 4 0 3 182 20 0 6.59 — 1962–63 Neil McNeil Maroons MetJHL 28 — — — 1660 65 3 2.25 — 10 — — 600 40 0 4.00 — 1962–63 Neil McNeil Maroons M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 6 2 4 360 27 0 4.50 — 1963–64 Toronto Marlboros OHA-Jr. 55 40 8 7 3270 186 3 3.41 — 9 — — 540 26 1 2.89 — 1963–64 Toronto Marlboros M-Cup — — — — — — — — — 12 11 1 720 38 0 3.17 — 1964–65 Rochester Americans AHL 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.00 — — — — — — — — — 1964–65 Tulsa Oilers CPHL 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00 — — — — — — — — — 1964–65 Victoria Maple Leafs WHL 8 1 5 0 411 30 0 4.38 — — — — — — — — — 1965–66 Rochester Americans AHL 37 20 11 4 2038 97 2 2.86 — 4 2 2 188 12 0 3.83 — 1965–66 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 3 0 2 0 118 7 0 3.56 .896 — — — — — — — — 1966–67 Rochester Americans AHL 17 6 5 4 871 38 1 2.62 — — — — — — — — — 1966–67 Victoria Maple Leafs WHL 17 6 8 3 1029 51 2 2.97 — — — — — — — — — 1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 2 0 2 0 115 7 0 3.65 .892 — — — — — — — — 1967–68 Oakland Seals NHL 21 2 13 4 1129 60 1 3.19 .907 — — — — — — — — 1968–69 Oakland Seals NHL 54 21 24 7 2993 148 4 2.97 .905 7 3 4 420 23 0 3.29 .899 1969–70 Oakland Seals NHL 65 19 34 12 3762 195 2 3.11 .913 4 0 4 248 13 0 3.15 .903 1970–71 California Golden Seals NHL 71 19 48 4 3975 256 2 3.86 .884 — — — — — — — — 1971–72 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 28 14 5 6 1540 62 5 2.42 .911 2 1 1 120 3 1 1.50 .957 1972–73 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 23 10 10 2 1340 79 0 3.54 .887 2 0 1 65 5 0 4.62 .884 1973–74 Vancouver Canucks NHL 66 20 33 8 3632 208 3 3.44 .894 — — — — — — — — 1974–75 Vancouver Canucks NHL 72 32 24 9 3823 197 6 3.09 .895 4 1 3 257 14 0 3.27 .905 1975–76 Vancouver Canucks NHL 51 20 24 6 2864 167 2 3.50 .882 — — — — — — — — 1976–77 Minnesota North Stars NHL 36 10 17 8 2090 139 1 3.99 .881 1 0 0 43 4 0 5.58 .733 1977–78 Washington Capitals NHL 17 2 12 3 980 68 2 4.16 .864 — — — — — — — — 1977–78 Hershey Bears AHL 1 0 0 1 65 4 0 3.69 — — — — — — — — — 1977–78 Minnesota North Stars NHL 3 0 2 1 180 9 0 3.00 .907 — — — — — — — — 1977–78 Fort Worth Texans CHL 13 8 3 1 765 38 1 2.98 — — — — — — — — — 1978–79 Indianapolis Racers WHA 11 0 10 1 664 61 0 5.51 .848 — — — — — — — — 1978–79 Winnipeg Jets WHA 11 7 3 0 626 31 0 2.97 .889 10 8 2 563 35 0 3.73 — 1979–80 Winnipeg Jets NHL 20 4 11 4 1073 73 0 4.08 .873 — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Tulsa Oilers CHL 22 7 11 4 1324 73 0 3.31 — 1 0 1 60 6 0 6.00 — WHA totals 22 7 13 4 1290 92 0 4.28 .865 10 8 2 563 35 0 3.73 .873 NHL totals 532 173 261 74 29619 1675 26 3.39 .894 20 5 13 1153 62 1 3.23 .902