Gary Smith (ice hockey)

Smith played his junior hockey with the Toronto St. Michael's Majors, Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons and the Toronto Marlboros. He won a Memorial Cup with the Toronto Marlboros in 1964. Smith made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1965-66 NHL season, and was one of five goalies who played for the Maple Leafs during 1966–67, their most recent Stanley Cup season.[2]

In his first season with Toronto, Smith left his crease in a game against the Montreal Canadiens in an attempt to be the first NHL goalie to score a goal. He reached the Canadiens' blueline before J. C. Tremblay issued a heavy bodycheck.[3] The NHL subsequently introduced a rule prohibiting the goaltender from being involved in play after crossing the center red line.[4] On occasion, Smith continued to attempt to score from within his side of the red line.[5]

He was eventually given the nickname "Suitcase" Smith by Toronto Star journalist Red Burnett due to the large number of teams for which he played.[6] After playing with the dismal California Golden Seals from 1967–68 to 1970–71, with whom he set records in 1970–71 for both the most games played in a single season and most losses in a single season, his first success was sharing the 1971–72 Vezina Trophy with Tony Esposito while with the Chicago Black Hawks. One year later, Smith and Esposito helped lead the Black Hawks to the Stanley Cup final, which they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in six games.

In 1974–75, he had a fine season with the Vancouver Canucks, with 72 games played and six shutouts. Smith finished fifth place in balloting for the 1975 Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team. The ultimate winner, Bobby Clarke, said in his acceptance speech that Smith was more deserving of the award. The following season, after giving up five goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Smith was pulled from the game but rather than stay on the bench he left the Pacific Coliseum and drove home still wearing his equipment.[7][6] He was suspended indefinitely by the team,[8] later reduced to five games, and later said "It's tough driving in your skates."[7]

Smith later played in the World Hockey Association (WHA), and was a teammate and roommate of Wayne Gretzky while playing for the Indianapolis Racers.[9][10] He was part of the Winnipeg Jets' 1979 Avco World Trophy championship, won against the Edmonton Oilers, who were led by Gretzky. Coincidentally, when Gretzky attended his first NHL game at Maple Leaf Gardens, Smith played for the California Golden Seals against the Maple Leafs.[11] Smith gave up the last goal in WHA history to Dave Semenko.[11]

Smith's last coach in Winnipeg was Tom McVie, who coached Smith the previous season while both were with the Washington Capitals.[12]

Smith was noted for his ritual of removing his entire uniform and goaltending gear between periods and putting it all back on again. He claimed his skate boots would stretch in size, forcing him to wear as many as 13 pairs of socks at times. He performed his undressing routine throughout his career as an active player, even after resolving his skate boot issues.[13]

Smith was also known for punting the puck down the ice,[14] allegedly in at attempt to hit the scoreclock.[6]

His brother Brian was also a professional hockey player, and on December 19, 1967 Brian's Los Angeles Kings played Gary's Oakland Seals, and Gary gave up two goals to his brother.[15][16] Brian later became a television sports news anchor in Ottawa, until he was murdered in 1995. In 1996 Gary, at the time a process server in Vancouver, was one of many former players who received a court settlement for pension payments owed by the league, and announced his intention to purchase a racehorse he would name Broadcaster, in honour of his brother.

Gary currently resides in Del Mar, California and continues to manage his horses.

• Memorial Cup championship in 1964
• Calder Cup championship in 1966
• Vezina Trophy winner in 1972 (shared with Tony Esposito).
• Played in 1975 NHL All-Star Game
• Avco World Trophy championship in 1979
• Holds NHL record for most losses in a season (48 in 1971)

• Banks, David (July 18, 1997). "A horse of a different color is Smith: Goalie Suitcase Gary takes a run at owning a race horse". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A56.
• Cox, Damien; Stellick, Gord (2004). 67: The Maple Leafs, Their Sensational Victory, and the End of an Empire. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-470-83400-5.
• Willes, Ed (2004). The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association. Toronto, ON: McLelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-8947-3.

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database