HOCKEY NOTES

Tommy Smith (Bulldog)

Left Wing / Center

5-6 150

b. 27 Sep 1886 Ottawa, Ontario
d. 1 Aug 1966 Quebec City, Quebec

Tommy Smith first got involved in hockey in high school, playing for the St. Patrick's Lycaeum team in Ottawa. His first big-league break was with the Ottawa Victorias of the Federal league in 1905-06, and he tied for the league lead in goals with 12. He hooked up with the Ottawa Silver Seven at the end of that season, scoring six goals in three games and getting his name on the Stanley Cup. An offer from Pittsburgh of the International Professional Hockey League took him south of the border for the next three years, followed by tours of duty in Brantford, Cobalt, Galt and Moncton.

By 1912, the Quebec Bulldogs were hot for the budding superstar, figuring he would be the ideal left winger for their superstar, Joe Malone. In his first season in Quebec, Smith scored 39 goals -- just four less than league-leading Malone -- and he drank from the Stanley Cup for a second time.

In 1913-14, Smith led the league with 39 goals in 20 games, including a 9-goal splurge against the Montreal Wanderers on January 21. Smith was eventually made team captain, only to be shuffled off to the Montreal Canadiens with Harry Mummery in 1916. He retired at the end of the 1916-17 season, but made a comeback with the Bulldogs in 1919-20 after coaching at the senior level for a couple of years.

Because of his small stature, Smith was not inclined to rough it up the way his older brothers Alf and Harry did. On more than one occasion, though, Tommy surprised some of the more rugged types in the league when they tried to slap him around. Smith was also the top face-off man of his era.

After he retired from hockey, this shy and unassuming man carved out a fine career at the National Research Council in Ottawa. He passed away in 1966 after a failed kidney stone operation.

In 187 recorded games, Smith scored 314 goals. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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