- Dallas Smith
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- For the rock singer, see Dallas Smith (singer)
Dallas Smith Born October 10, 1941
Hamiota, MB, CANHeight 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) Position Defenceman Shoots Left Played for Boston Bruins
New York RangersNational team Canada
Playing career 1959–1978 Dallas Earl Smith (born October 10, 1941 in Hamiota, Manitoba) is a former National Hockey League defenceman who played fifteen seasons for the Boston Bruins.
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Playing career
Signed as a teenager by the Bruins, after a junior career with their Estevan Bruins farm team, Smith made his debut with Boston in 1960. He played the full 1961 season with the club, but thereafter spent most of the next seven seasons in the minor leagues, winning Second All-Star Team accolades with the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL in 1966.
With expansion in 1967 Smith made the Bruins for good and, partnered with superstar Bobby Orr on defence, led the NHL in plus/minus the first season the statistic was officially tabulated. He gained a reputation as a solid defensive defenceman—as well as a wide repute as the league's strongest man, bolstered by his ownership of a Manitoba farm. His best season was 1971, during which he had his career high of 45 points, played in the NHL All-Star Game and finished with a plus/minus of +94, the fourth highest total in history.
Smith was named interim captain of the Bruins in 1977 after longtime captain John Bucyk was injured, but left the team after a dispute, playing for the Canadian national team in the 1977 World Championships after that. He signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers in December 1978 at the importuning of old teammate Phil Esposito, but his skills having significantly diminished, retired at season's end.
Smith finished his NHL career with 55 goals, 307 assists and 959 penalty minutes in 890 games.
Awards and achievements
- CPHL Second All-Star Team (1966)
- CPHL Championships (1966 & 1967)
- Stanley Cup Championships (1970 & 1972)
- Played in the NHL All-Star Game (1971, 1972, 1973, & 1974)
- Named to play for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, but declined, citing the necessity to work his farm.
- "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
Trivia
- The lead singer of the Vancouver band Default is named after Smith. [1]
External links
Categories:- 1941 births
- Boston Bruins players
- Canadian ice hockey defencemen
- Ice hockey people from Manitoba
- Living people
- New York Rangers players
- People from Westman Region, Manitoba
- Pittsburgh Hornets players
- Portland Buckaroos players
- Stanley Cup champions
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