Shot Left Died August 1, 1966 Playing career Height 1.68 m | Name Tommy Smith Weight 68 kg Role Ice hockey Positions Centerman | |
Born September 27, 1885
Ottawa, ON, CAN ( 1885-09-27 ) Played for Pittsburgh Professionals, Pittsburgh Lyceum | ||
Thomas Joseph Smith (September 27, 1885 – August 1, 1966) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward, who played from 1905 until 1920 for 16 teams in his career. He was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams, the Ottawa Silver Seven of 1906 and the Quebec Bulldogs of 1913. His two brothers Alf Smith and Harry Smith also played professional ice hockey.
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Playing career
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Smith began playing 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) in 1905-06, and also played for the Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Hockey Club, aka the "Silver Seven" that same year. He moved to Pittsburgh to become a professional with the Pittsburgh Professionals in 1906, playing three seasons with the team before returning to Canada to join the Brantford Indians of the Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL). Smith played two seasons with Brantford. In 1910-11 he became a member of the Galt Professionals of the OPHL helping Galt win the OPHL championship. Along with most of the Galt team, he bolted to the Moncton Victorias the following season, helping Moncton win the Maritime championship. The Galt and Moncton teams Smith was a member of played consecutive Stanley Cup challenges, Galt against Ottawa in 1911 and Moncton against Quebec in 1912, both times unsuccessfully. Smith then joined the Quebec Bulldogs. After the 1913–14 season in Quebec, he was traded (twice) to Toronto Shamrocks. This caused a dispute with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. At that time, the NHA and PCHA had an agreement whereby the PCHA teams could draft one player from 3 of the 6 teams of the NHA. He was traded away from Quebec, which was eligible to lose a player. He started play for Shamrocks, though he had been drafted by Victoria of the PCHA. It was found that the initial trade was not allowed, and Quebec re-traded him to Toronto during the season, disregarding the PCHA efforts to get him. During the 1914–15 season, he was traded back to Quebec, avoiding the PCHA draft again.
While skating for the Ottawa Victorias in 1906, Smith led the FAHL with 12 goals (including eight goals in a game against Brockville on February 23, 1906). In future years, he was the leading goal-scorer in the OPHL (1908–09) and the NHA (1910–11, 1913–14, 1914–15).