Derek Robert Smith (born July 31, 1954) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

and Detroit Red Wings between 1975 and 1983. He was selected by the Sabres in the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft.

Playing career

Smith was born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, but grew up in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Smith played his junior hockey for the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's currently play their h ...

and scored an impressive 52 goals in the 1972–73 campaign. He backed up the performance with a 47-goal season the next year and this was enough to garner the attention of the

who drafted him in the 10th round of the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. He spent three seasons with the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg. The current Bears club has played in the American Hockey League since the 1938–39 season maki ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

including a playoff effort in 1975 where he scored seven goals in eleven games. Smith also scored nearly a point a game for the Bears in 1976–77. This is also the year when he made his regular season debut in the NHL, playing in 5 games for the Sabres, after appearing in one playoff game for the Sabres the year before. In 1977, he became an NHL regular appearing in 36 regular season games and an additional eight playoff games. Smith broke out in the 1979–80 season when he recorded career high 24 goals to go with 39 assists. He also scored 12 points in 13 games. He was a 20-goal scorer the next season. Smith also set a career high with 43 assists in 69 games. On December 2, 1981 Smith was part of a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Detroit Red Wings, along with

Danny Gare Daniel Mirl Gare (born May 14, 1954) is a Canadian broadcaster, ice hockey coach and former National Hockey League (NHL) player, most notably of the Buffalo Sabres. During a 13-year professional career, Gare also played for the Detroit Red Wings ...

and

Jim Schoenfeld James Grant Schoenfeld (born September 4, 1952) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He most recently was the assistant general manager with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), as well as an inte ...

, in exchange for

Dale McCourt Dale Allen McCourt, (born January 26, 1957), is a former professional ice hockey forward. He was drafted first overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. Junior hockey McCourt played major junior in the Ontario Hockey Assoc ...

Mike Foligno Michael Anthony Foligno (; born January 29, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League for fifteen seasons from 1979–80 until 1993–94. He is a scout for the Vegas Golden Knights. ...

and Brent Peterson. Smith scored thirteen goals playing for Detroit. He retired from professional hockey in 1984 after scoring 78 goals and 194 points in the NHL. Smith still resides in the Western New York area and is an active member of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

*
Sports Illustrated article

Buffalo Sabres alumni page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Derek 1954 births Living people Adirondack Red Wings players Anglophone Quebec people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian ice hockey forwards Charlotte Checkers (SHL) players Detroit Red Wings players Hershey Bears players Houston Aeros draft picks Ice hockey people from Ottawa Ice hockey people from Quebec City Ottawa 67's players