Sidney James Smith (July 11, 1925 – April 29, 2004) was a

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

for 12 seasons. He was the Leafs team captain from 1955 to 1956.

Playing career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and attended De La Salle College, Smith began his career in minor leagues in Toronto and later with the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. In November 2016, th ...

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

. He attended Essex School and resided at 1 Burnfield Avenue in Seaton. Having played 45 games in two championship seasons for the Maple Leafs, he spent most of the 1948–49 season in the AHL with the

Pittsburgh Hornets The Pittsburgh Hornets were a minor-league professional men's ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contrary to popular belief, the Pittsburgh Hornets did not evolve from the International Hockey League's Pittsburgh Shamrocks. The f ...

before he was called back to Toronto. After playing just one regular season game Smith scored a hat-trick in Game 2 on the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

finals to help Toronto to a four-games sweep of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and are ...

. Smith had six consecutive seasons with 20 or more goals, a distinction held by the great

Gordie Howe Gordon Howe (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seaso ...

. Smith retired in the 1957–1958 season and later became a player-coach with the

Whitby Dunlops The Whitby Dunlops are a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the team in the Allan Cup Hockey league. The team began play in 2004, and is on a leave of absence as of the 2020-21 season. Two previous teams have also played as the Whitby Dunlops. ...

, a senior team in the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey As ...

in 1957. Smith played 601 regular season games scoring 186 goals and 183 assists for 369 points. In 44 play-off games, he scored 17 goals and 10 assists for 27 points.

Awards and achievements

* Three

championships 1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51 * Two Lady Byng Trophies in 1951–52 and 1954–55. * Selected for the second All-Star team in 1950–51 and 1951–52, and for the first All-Star team in 1954–55

Career statistics

References

External links

* 1925 births 2004 deaths Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Ontario Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners Oshawa Generals players Pittsburgh Hornets players Place of death missing Sportspeople from Toronto Stanley Cup champions Toronto Maple Leafs players {{canada-icehockey-winger-1920s-stub