Known for his combination of skill and sportsmanship, Clint Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
Smith won the Lady Byng Trophy voted as the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability twice, in 1938-39 with the New York Rangers and 1943-44 with the Chicago Black Hawks. He was runner up for the Lady Byng three times and finished Top 4 in voting for the Lady Byng seven of his 10 full seasons in the NHL.
Known for his combination of skill and sportsmanship, Clint Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991.
Smith won the Lady Byng Trophy voted as the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability twice, in 1938-39 with the New York Rangers and 1943-44 with the Chicago Black Hawks. He was runner up for the Lady Byng three times and finished Top 4 in voting for the Lady Byng seven of his 10 full seasons in the NHL.
Four times, including his first season when he played two games in 1936-37, Smith was not penalized over the course of the season. The forward had an NHL career-high six penalty minutes in 1946-47, his final season in the League, and 24 penalty minutes in 483 NHL games.
Smith was also a skilled forward, scoring at least 20 goals four times including an NHL career-high 26 for the Black Hawks in 1945-46. He set an NHL record at the time with 49 assists in 1943-44, when he had an NHL career-high 72 points in 50 games.
That same season, he and linemates Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley combined for 219 points, another League record at the time.
Smith scored four goals in the third period during Chicago's 6-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens on March 4, 1945. He was the eighth NHL player to score four goals in a period and is one of 17 to share the League record.
Smith played for the Rangers from 1936-43 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1940. He was sold to the Black Hawks by the Rangers on Oct. 20, 1943.
After leaving the NHL, Smith was a player-coach in the United States Hockey League and American Hockey League for five seasons until he retired from hockey in 1952.
Smith died May 19, 2009 at the age of 95.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Herman W. Paterson Cup (USHL - MVP) (1948)
- Signed as a free agent by NY Rangers, October 13, 1932.
- Signed as a free agent by Chicago, September, 1943.
- Named coach of Cincinnati (AHL), June 18, 1951.