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EditThomas Joseph "Tommy" Smith - Born September 27, 1886 in Ottawa, Ontario – Died August 1, 1966 in Ottawa, Ontario was a Canadian ice Hockey centre and coach..
One of seven brothers who would play senior ice Hockey. Smith began playing with Loyola College in Montreal, and soon played senior Hockey as an amateur with the Ottawa Emmetts from 1903 until 1905. He joined the Ottawa Victorias of the Federal Amateur Hockey League / FAHL for the 1905-06 season, scoring 12 goals in six games, including a 8 goal game vs Brockville on February 23, 1906 and getting the attention of the Silver Seven / Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association / ECAHA. Smith would finish the 1905-06 season playing with the Senators, scoring 6 goals in 3 games and playing in one playoff game. Tommy Smith had 2 brothers on the team, Alf and Harry Smith. Tommy was a spare player for the Stanley Cup challenges from Queen's University, Smith Falls and the Montreal Wanderers.
Smith, wanting to play and not sit as a spare, then went south, joining the Pittsburgh Professionals / Pittsburgh Pros of the International Hockey League / IHL for the 1906-07 season, a all professional league, that was backed by mining companies from Copper Country. Smith was one of the top scorers the IHL with 31 goals (13 assists) in 23 games. He was nicknamed "Snake" by the local Pittsburgh fans. The IHL was also a tough league, and Smith had a career high 47 minutes in penalties.
The IHL folded after it's 3 year existence (1904-1907) and Smith joined the Pittsburgh Lyceum who were to play in the revived four team Western Pennsylvania Hockey League / WPHL. The Lyceum played their games at the Duquesne Gardens, which had artificial ice, the same place that the Pittsburgh Pros used to play at. Smith scored 33 goals in 16 games, leading the league for the Lyceum.
Smith started the 1908-09 season with the Lyceum, but after playing six games and scoring 15 goals, he was lured north to the newly formed Ontario Professional Hockey League / OPHL, nicknamed the Trolley League. Smith played with the Brantford Indians (Brantford Redmen), and scored a career high 40 goals in 13 games, leading the league in scoring. He had a 9 goal game vs Galt on January 28, 1909.
Harry Smith, Tommy's brother convinced him near the seasons end of the OPHL, to join him playing for the Haileybury Comets in the Timiskaming Professional Hockey League / TPHL to end their season. They were both known as "Ringers" because they were paid for each game they played. Tommy Smith then went back to the WPHL, playing for the Pittsburgh Bankers, helping them win the 1909 WPHL championship.
Smith went back to the Brantford Indians for the 1909-10 season, and then joined the Galt professionals for the OPHL 1910-11 season, helping them win the league championship. Galt were successful in their bid to challenge the Ottawa Senators in a 1 game Stanley Cup challenge on March 13, 1911, losing 7-4. Smith had 1 goal in the game.
Smith then joined the Moncton Victorias of the Maritime Professional Hockey League / MPHL in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He was team captain, as Moncton won the league championship and got to challenge the Quebec Bulldogs for the Stanley Cup in a two game series. Bulldogs won the first game 9-3 on March 11, 1912 in which Smith scored 2 goals. Quebec won the second game 8-0.
The Bulldogs were impressed by the play of Smith, and signed him to play for the 1912-13 National Hockey Association / NHA season. He scored 39 goals during the regular season, helping Quebec win the O'Brien Trophy as NHA champions, while also retaining the Stanley Cup as league champions. The Bulldogs played the Sydney Millionaires in a two game total goals Stanley Cup challenge. Smith scored 1 goal in the series, as Quebec easily won both games.
The Bulldogs would leave on a train the next day, to join a exhibition series that was underway in New York City, and played 2 games vs the Montreal Wanderers at the St. Nicolas Rink. Wanderers won the first game 9-5, with the Bulldogs taking the second game 5-3.
Quebec once again would be back on the train, this time heading the the West Coast of Canada, to play in another exhibition series, this one a best-of-three series vs the Victoria Senators (Aristocrats). The Quebec team had to take the train to Vancouver, and then the Steamship Ferry to Victoria, which was the capital of British Columbia. The Senators had requested a challenge series with Quebec, but would not travel to Quebec City, but would play a series in Toronto. Bulldogs would not agree to defend the Stanley Cup on any other ice than their home rink. The Senators would win the best-of-three exhibition series, with Smith scoring in each game.
Smith played for the Bulldogs for the next three NHA seasons, having another 9 goal game vs the Wanderers on January 21, 1914. He split the 1914-15 NHA season with the NHA Toronto Shamrocks, as he was traded to them, and then back to Quebec at seasons end. Smith led the NHA in scoring in both 1913-14 and 1914-15.
Smith then signed with the NHA Montreal Canadiens for the 1916-17 season. It was a unstable season for the NHA with many problems. Smith scored only 7 goals in 14 games during the regular season, but his 2 goals in the playoffs vs the Ottawa Senators for the league championship were pivotal, as his goal in the first game of a two game total goals stood as the winner (5-2 Montreal), and in the second game, Smith scored the final goal of the game (4-2 Ottawa), and the Canadiens took the series 7-6 on total goals, winning the 1917 the O'Brien Trophy as league champions.
The Canadiens then travelled to Seattle, Washington to play the Pacific Coast Hockey Association / PCHA Seattle Metropolitans for the 1917 Stanley Cup championship in a best of 5 series. Montreal won the first game, but Seattle won the next 3 games to win the Stanley Cup (1st American team to win the Stanley Cup). Smith had 2 goals in the series.
Smith, now 31 years old, played out his Hockey career with the Ottawa Transport (1917-18), Glace Bay Miners (1918-19) as a playing coach and back to the Quebec, now playing in the National Hockey League / NHL as the Quebec Athletic Club (Quebec Athletics). He had just 1 assist in 10 games and retired.
Noted Hockey Historian and author of the 3 volume "The Trail of the Stanley Cup" Charles L. Coleman, wrote this about Tommy Smith on page 658 of volume 1 "Tommy Smith was the youngest of the three Smith boys who figured prominently in Stanley Cup Hockey and he was the best. He was not a scrapper that Alf was and although he enjoyed himself he was not the problem to his managers that Harry had been"
Tommy Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973