James Stephen Smith

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Position Defence
Shot Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
210 lb (95 kg/14 st 0 lb)
Pro clubs Edmonton Oilers
Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada &
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Born April 30, 1963 (1963-04-30) (age 45),
Glasgow, Scotland
NHL Draft 111th overall, 1981
Edmonton Oilers
Pro career 1984 – 2000

James Stephen Smith,[1] better known as Steve Smith, (born April 30, 1963, in Glasgow, Scotland) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1984-85 to 2000-01. He was an NHL All-Star who is also remembered for a gaffe he made during the 1986 Smythe Division Finals.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Smith was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft in the 6th round, 111th overall. He is perhaps most known for accidentally scoring on his own team, the Edmonton Oilers in the 1986 playoffs. In the third period of game seven against the rival Calgary Flames, with the score tied at two, he made a pass from behind his own net that bounced off of goaltender Grant Fuhr into his own net. That goal was the difference in the game and it cost the Oilers the series. Calgary went on to the Stanley Cup finals that year but lost to the Montreal Canadiens. The day was also Steve Smith's birthday. Following that, many hockey fans in Calgary and Edmonton yelled "Shoot!" whenever Smith had the puck behind his own net, a tradition that continued into Smith's later seasons playing for the Flames.

Despite this infamous incident, he became one of the best defencemen in the league and was a key player in Edmonton, winning 3 Stanley Cups (1987, 1988, 1990), as well as playing in the 42nd NHL All-Star Game. The season following the infamous goal, the Edmonton Oilers stormed back and won the Stanley Cup. When the Cup was handed to team captain Wayne Gretzky, Gretzky promptly handed it over to Smith to start the traditional skate around the rink with the Cup.

Smith played in Edmonton until the end of the 1990-91 NHL season. After Edmonton, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks until he retired following the 1996-97 NHL season. In another infamous moment early in the 1995-96 season Smith took then superstar Pavel Bure down hard behind the net and into the boards tearing Bure's ACL, an injury that the Russian superstar would never recover from. After one year of retirement, he came back and played three seasons for the Calgary Flames. He retired again in December 2000.

[edit] Off the ice

During Smith's one year of retirement as a player in 1997-98, he joined the Calgary Flames coaching staff as an assistant coach.

[edit] Awards

  • Played in NHL All-Star Game - 1991

[edit] Career statistics

    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 Brantford Alexanders OHL 7 1 1 2 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 -- -- -- -- --
1999-00 Calgary Flames NHL 20 0 4 4 42 -- -- -- -- --
2000-01 Calgary Flames NHL 13 0 2 2 17 -- -- -- -- --
NHL totals 804 72 303 375 2139 134 11 41 52 288

[edit] International play

Played for Canada in:

International statistics

Year Team Event   GP G A Pts PIM
1991 Canada CC 8 0 1 1 30
Senior Int'l Totals 8 0 1 1 30

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ NHL – Steve Smith – Calgary Flames Player Card. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Todd Simpson
Calgary Flames captains
1999-2000
Succeeded by
Dave Lowry