Steve Smith
Born (1963-04-30) 30 April 1963
Glasgow, Scotland
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Edmonton Oilers
Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 111th overall, 1981
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 1984–2000

James Stephen Smith[1] (born 30 April 1963) is a Scottish-born Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and former assistant coach of the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1984–85 to 2000–01 and coached from 2010-11 to 2020-21. Currently Smith is an assistant coach with the Hartford Wolfpack of the American Hockey League (AHL). Smith played in the 1991 All-Star game in Chicago and was part of the 1991 Canadian Team that won the Canada Cup in Toronto.

Playing career

Smith played for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League from 1980-81 to 1982-83 before being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in the 6th round, 111th overall. He spent his first 2 years of professional hockey (1983-84 to 1984-85) playing for the Oilers minor league affiliate teams (Moncton and Halifax). He played with the Oilers starting in the 1984/85 season. He went on to play 804 career games scoring 375 points (72-303-375) along with 2,139 penalty minutes. Smith also played in 134 Stanley Cup Playoff games, scoring 52 points (11-41-52).

Smith played for the Oilers until the end of the 1990–91 season, winning three Stanley Cups with the team. Smith remains the Oilers' single season leader in penalty minutes with 286, which he set during the 1987-88 season. He then played for the Chicago Blackhawks until 1997. He announced his retirement due to injury following the 1996–97 season, but made a comeback 1998-99 playing parts of three seasons with the Flames, retiring for good in December 2000.

The "own goal"

Although Smith scored 83 goals in his NHL career (including 11 in the playoffs), he may be best known for a shot that went into his own net.[2] On April 30, 1986, Smith’s 23rd birthday, in the seventh game of the Smythe Division Final against the Calgary Flames, Calgary's Perry Berezan dumped the puck into the Edmonton zone before leaving the ice on a line change. Smith recovered the puck behind his net and intended to send it down the ice, only to accidentally bounce it off goaltender Grant Fuhr's skate and into his own net, [3] giving the Flames a 3-2 lead. (Although he was already off the ice, Berezan was the last Flame to touch the puck and was thus credited with the goal: a rare instance of a hockey player "scoring" a goal while sitting on the bench.) The top-seeded Oilers could not get the equalizer, and thus lost the game and were eliminated from the playoffs.[4] Many fans blamed Smith for the loss, but in his autobiography Wayne Gretzky called that opinion "a total cop-out", asserting that the Oilers should've clinched the series well before Game Seven. (As of 2023, Calgary and Edmonton have met in the Stanley Cup playoffs six times, and the 1986 tilt remains the Flames' only victory.)

Coaching career

Smith was an assistant coach with the Flames in 1997–98. He worked as a scout with the Chicago Blackhawks prior to spending four seasons on the Oilers coaching staff from 2010 to 2014. He was hired as an assistant coach of the Hurricanes in June 2014, then as the assistant coach of the Sabres in July 2018.[5] Smith, along with head coach Ralph Krueger were relieved of their duties by the Sabres on 17 March 2021. He now works with the New York Rangers minor league affiliate team the Hartford Wolfpack as head coach.

Personal life

Smith was born in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, but grew up in Cobourg, Ontario and has two brothers, David and Ian.

He is married and has five children. [6] His son, Barron Smith (born 2 April 1991), was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 7th round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.[7]

Awards

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1980–81 London Knights OHL 62 4 12 16 141 — — — — —
1981–82 London Knights OHL 58 10 36 46 207 4 1 2 3 13
1982–83 London Knights OHL 50 6 35 41 133 3 1 0 1 10
1982–83 Moncton Alpines AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1983–84 Moncton Alpines AHL 64 1 8 9 176 — — — — —
1984–85 Edmonton Oilers NHL 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
1984–85 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 68 2 28 30 161 5 0 3 3 40
1985–86 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 4 0 2 2 11 — — — — —
1985–86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 55 4 20 24 166 6 0 1 1 14
1986–87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 62 7 15 22 165 15 1 3 4 45
1987–88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 12 43 55 286 19 1 11 12 55
1988–89 Edmonton Oilers NHL 35 3 19 22 97 7 2 2 4 20
1989–90 Edmonton Oilers NHL 75 7 34 41 171 22 5 10 15 37
1990–91 Edmonton Oilers NHL 77 13 41 54 193 18 1 2 3 45
1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 76 9 21 30 304 18 1 11 12 16
1992–93 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 78 10 47 57 214 4 0 0 0 10
1993–94 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 57 5 22 27 174 — — — — —
1994–95 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 48 1 12 13 128 16 0 1 1 26
1995–96 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 37 0 9 9 71 6 0 0 0 16
1996–97 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 21 0 0 0 29 3 0 0 0 4
1998–99 Calgary Flames NHL 69 1 14 15 80 — — — — —
1999–2000 Calgary Flames NHL 20 0 4 4 42 — — — — —
2000–01 Calgary Flames NHL 13 0 2 2 17 — — — — —
NHL totals 804 72 303 375 2,139 134 11 41 52 288

International

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1991 Canada CC 8 0 1 1 30
Senior totals 8 0 1 1 30

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NHL – Steve Smith – Calgary Flames Player Card". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 7, 2005. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  2. ↑ "1986: Own goal, oh no!". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  3. ↑ Johnston, David (1986-05-01). "Death of a dynasty: Flames singe Oilers". Montreal Gazette. p. F1. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  4. ↑ Mummery, Bob (1989). Countdown to the Stanley Cup: An Illustrated History of the Calgary Flames. Polestar Book Publishers. p. 73. ISBN 0-919591-48-5.
  5. ↑ Matheson, Jim. "Steve Smith on Carolina Hurricanes bench now". edmontonjournal.com. Postmedia. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Steve Smith". oilers.nhl.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Barron Smith - Elite Prospects".
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