Donald John Smith (June 3, 1887 – May 13, 1959) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. Smith was one of the earliest professional ice hockey players, playing professionally in the first decade of the 1900s. Smith played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and its predecessor

National Hockey Association The National Hockey Association (NHA), initially the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited, was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor of today's National Hockey Leagu ...

for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

Montreal Shamrocks The Montreal Shamrocks were an amateur, later professional, and then amateur again men's ice hockey club in existence from 1886 to 1924, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were spun off from the Montreal Shamrocks lacrosse club. Starting off ...

Montreal Wanderers The Montreal Wanderers were an amateur, and later professional, ice hockey team based in Montreal. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL), the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA), the National Hockey Association ...

and

Renfrew Creamery Kings The Renfrew Hockey Club, also known as the Creamery Kings and the Millionaires, was a founding franchise in 1909 of the National Hockey Association, the precursor to the National Hockey League. The team was based in the founder Ambrose O'Brien's h ...

. He was an older brother of ice hockey and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player Guy Smith.

Playing career

Smith played senior amateur hockey for his hometown

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the U.S. state of New York (state), New York converge. It is Ontario's easternmost city. Although it is the seat of the United ...

club in the

Federal Amateur Hockey League The Federal Amateur Hockey League (FAHL) was a Canadians, Canadian men's Senior ice hockey, senior-level ice hockey league that played six seasons, from 1904 to 1909. The league was formed initially to provide a league for teams not accepted by th ...

from 1904 until 1907. During a March 6, 1907 FAHL game between Cornwall H/C and the

Ottawa Victorias The Ottawa Victorias were an early Canadian ice hockey team. The club challenged for the Stanley Cup in 1908, losing to the Montreal Wanderers. History The club was founded in 1901 by Jimmie Enright, owner and manager of the Victoria ice rink in ...

Smith's forward teammate Owen McCourt was struck in the head by one or several opponent sticks and died the following morning of his injuries. Smith became a professional with

Portage la Prairie, Manitoba Portage la Prairie () is a small city in the Central Plains Region of Manitoba, Canada. In 2016, the population was 13,304 and the land area was . Portage la Prairie is approximately west of Winnipeg, along the Trans-Canada Highway, Trans-Can ...

of the

Manitoba Professional Hockey League The Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) was an early men's senior ice hockey league playing around 1900 in Manitoba, Canada. The league started as an elite amateur league in 1892, became professional in 1905, had a professional and an amateur leagu ...

(MPHL) in 1907–08. He returned to

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

the following season, playing for

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in the

Ontario Professional Hockey League The Ontario Professional Hockey League (OPHL), sometimes referred to as the Trolley League, and also known as the Canadian Hockey League in its time, was a professional ice hockey league in Canada. It was a fully professional league and consisted ...

(OPHL). In 1909–10, he joined the

of the

(NHA). He played in 1910–11 for the

before joining the

Victoria Aristocrats The Victoria Cougars were a Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after ...

of the

Pacific Coast Hockey Association The Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) was a professional ice hockey league in Western Canada and the Western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The PCHA was cons ...

(PCHA) for a season. He returned the following season (1912–13) to the

and played for the Canadiens until 1915 when he was sold to the

. Smith left the league after the

1915–16 NHA season The 1915–16 NHA season was the seventh season of the National Hockey Association. Five teams played a 24 game schedule. Montreal Canadiens won the league championship and defeated the Portland Rosebuds to win their first ever Stanley Cup. Lea ...

to serve in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Upon his return, in 1919–20, Smith re-joined the Montreal Canadiens, now in the

(NHL), for one last year of professional ice hockey. He refereed and coached in ice hockey in later years.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Transactions

* Signed as a free agent by St. Catharines (OPHL), December 8, 1908. * Signed as a free agent by Toronto (OPHL) after St. Catharines (OPHL) folded, January 22, 1909. * Signed as a free agent by Trenton (EOPHL), December 22, 1910. * Signed by Renfrew (NHA) after jumping contract with Trenton (EOPHL), December 27, 1910. * Claimed by Montreal Wanderers (NHA) in Dispersal Draft of Renfrew (NHA) players, November 12, 1911. * Signed by Victoria (PCHA) after jumping contract with Montreal Wanderers (NHA), December, 1911. * Signed as a free agent by Montreal Canadiens (NHA), November 26, 1912. * Traded to Montreal Wanderers by Montreal Canadiens for cash, February 2, 1915. * Rights not retained by Montreal Wanderers after NHA folded, November 26, 1917. * Signed as a free agent by Montreal, December 11, 1919. ;Source: NHL.com

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Don 1887 births 1959 deaths Canadian ice hockey left wingers Canadian military personnel of World War I Ice hockey people from Cornwall, Ontario Montreal Canadiens (NHA) players Montreal Canadiens players Montreal Shamrocks (non-NHA) players Montreal Shamrocks players Montreal Wanderers (NHA) players Montreal Wanderers players Renfrew Hockey Club players Victoria Aristocrats players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen