Kevin Smyth (born November 22, 1973) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who played 58 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. He played with the

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its 25-year existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1 ...

. He spent parts of three seasons with the Hartford Whalers between 1993 and 1996, playing 58 games for them. Though his big league career was fairly short, he was an explosive scorer in junior and a solid two-way worker in the minors. His younger brother is former longtime

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

forward Ryan Smyth.

Playing career

Smyth was chosen 79th overall by the Whalers in 1992 after a 30-goal season with the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors. He returned to junior and notched 44 goals before seeing action in 21 games as an NHL rookie in 1993-94. Smyth spent most of his first three pro seasons in the AHL but was recalled by Hartford periodically as an injury replacement. The hard-working forward joined the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears in 1996 and became a solid worker in the IHL. He (2013–14) plays for the

Innisfail, Alberta Innisfail ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, south of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 54. History The town's name comes from an Irish-language epithet for Ireland, ''I ...

Eagles of the Chinook Hockey League, after several seasons with the Bentley Generals.

Visual impairment

On December 28, 1996, in a game against the

Indianapolis Ice The Indianapolis Ice were a minor league professional ice hockey team based in Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indian ...

, Smyth took a puck to his eye after a point shot deflected off a stick and hit him in the right eye. The force of the puck was great enough to detach his retina and cause a ruptured globe, with enough force to blind him. Smyth later admitted that upon seeing the medical assessment, the force of the puck was strong enough to do significant damage to his eyeball. Smyth returned to active play on March 19, 1997, and recorded an assist in his first game back after the injury.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Kevin 1973 births Living people 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey left wingers Hartford Whalers draft picks Hartford Whalers players Ice hockey people from Alberta Idaho Steelheads (WCHL) players Las Vegas Thunder players Moose Jaw Warriors players Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) players Sportspeople from Banff, Alberta Springfield Indians players Tacoma Sabercats players