Gregory James Smith (born July 18, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

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. He played for five teams 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 ...

between 1976 and 1988. Internationally Smith represented the Canadian national team at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and 1979 World Championships.

Career

A stay-at-home

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

who was selected by the

California Golden Seals The California Golden Seals were a professional ice hockey club that competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1967 to 1976. Based in Oakland, California, they played their home games at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena. The ...

in the 1975 NHL Draft, Smith followed the franchise when it relocated to Cleveland in 1976, and when it folded in 1978 and merged with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

, where his rights were protected by the North Stars in the 1978 Cleveland-Minnesota Dispersal Draft. He played for Minnesota for three seasons, and his solid defensive play would help guide them to the finals in 1981. Smith was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he played for parts of five seasons until he was traded to the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

at the trade deadline of the 1985–86 NHL season. He played for the Capitals until his retirement at the end of the

1987–88 NHL season The 1987–88 NHL season was the 71st season of the National Hockey League. It was an 80-game season with the top four teams in each division advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This season would see the Edmonton Oilers win their fourth Stanl ...

Retirement

Smith spent much of his retirement in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, raising his family and coaching hockey. He has helped several players get into various Junior hockey leagues in both the US and Canada.

Family life

Smith currently resides in Billings, Montana with his wife.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
1955 births Living people Calgary Cowboys draft picks California Golden Seals draft picks California Golden Seals players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey defencemen Cleveland Barons (NHL) players Colorado College Tigers men's ice hockey players Detroit Red Wings players Ice hockey people from Alberta Minnesota North Stars players People from Ponoka, Alberta Salt Lake Golden Eagles (CHL) players Washington Capitals players {{Canada-icehockey-defenceman-1950s-stub