Clinton James "Snuffy" Smith (December 12, 1913 – May 19, 2009) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and head coach best known for his time spent in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a player with the New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks. Following Smith's 10-year NHL career, he served as both a head coach and player in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and American Hockey League (AHL).
Playing career
Minor leagues (1932–1937)
Before beginning his NHL career with the New York Rangers in 1936–37, Smith played in several minor professional leagues. After splitting his first professional season in 1932–33 with the Springfield Indians of the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) and Saskatoon Crescents of the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL), Smith moved further west to play for the Vancouver Lions of the North West Hockey League (NWHL), where he led the league in scoring with 25 goals in his rookie year. He then went on to lead the league in points the next two seasons with 44- and 53-point campaigns.
In 1936–37, Smith joined the International-American Hockey League (I-AHL), precursor to the American Hockey League (AHL), and finished second in league scoring to Jack Markle with 54 points as a member of the Philadelphia Ramblers. He helped lead his team to the Finals of the inaugural Calder Cup championship but lost to the Syracuse Stars in four games of what was a five-game series.
New York Rangers (1937–1943)
thumb|Smith, c. 1944
Smith began his NHL career with the Rangers with a short two-game stint in , during which he notched his first NHL career goal. He quickly became an integral player on the Rangers roster, leading the team in scoring in his second full NHL season in with 41 points. Going the length of the campaign with just one minor penalty, he was also awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, his first of two in his career. The following season, he helped lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup championship, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games (the win was the Rangers' last before their 54-year Cup drought, ending in 1994).
Despite winning the Stanley Cup that year, however, Smith's production began to tail off with the Rangers, scoring only 24 points that championship year. Despite improving to 33 points in , Smith ended his 6-year tenure with the Rangers following that season.
Chicago Black Hawks (1943–1947)
Joining the Chicago Black Hawks in 1943–44, Smith rejuvenated his career playing on a line with future fellow Hockey Hall of Famers, Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley. He recorded 23 goals and established an NHL record for single-season assists with 49 (broken the following season by Elmer Lach of the Montreal Canadiens) for an NHL career-high 72 points. Getliffe, who died at the age of 94, was just several months younger than Smith at the time of his death, while Holmes and Suomi were 97 and 95, respectively at that time. On May 19, 2009, Smith died at the age of 95, leaving Suomi as the oldest living NHL player, at the current age of 99.
He was the last surviving member of Rangers 1940 Stanley Cup team.
In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Smith at No. 35 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.
Awards
- Won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1939 and 1944.
- Won a Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1940.
- Won the Herman W. Paterson Cup as USHL MVP in 1948.
Career statistics
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em;"
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" | Regular season
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
! colspan="5" | Playoffs
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1930–31||Saskatoon Wesleys||N-SJHL||1||0||0||0||0||2||0||0||0||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1931–32||Saskatoon Wesleys||N-SJHL||4||5||1||6||0||9||6||1||7||2
|-
| 1931–32||Saskatoon Crescents||N-SSHL||18||19||3||22||0||4||6||0||6||4
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1932–33||Springfield Indians||CAHL||12||0||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1932–33||Saskatoon Crescents||WCHL||27||7||6||13||8||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1933–34||Vancouver Lions||NWHL||34||25||14||39||8||7||5||4||9||2
|-
| 1934–35||Vancouver Lions||NWHL||32||22||22||44||2||8||3||5||8||4
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1935–36||Vancouver Lions||NWHL||40||21||32||53||10||7||2||4||6||2
|-
| 1936–37||New York Rangers||NHL||2||1||0||1||0||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1936–37||Philadelphia Ramblers||IAHL||49||25||29||54||15||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1937–38||New York Rangers||NHL||48||14||23||37||0||3||2||0||2||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1938–39||New York Rangers||NHL||48||21||20||41||2||7||1||2||3||0
|-
| 1939–40||New York Rangers||NHL||41||8||16||24||2||11||1||3||4||2
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1940–41||New York Rangers||NHL||48||14||11||25||0||3||0||0||0||0
|-
| 1941–42||New York Rangers||NHL||47||10||24||34||4||5||0||0||0||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1942–43||New York Rangers||NHL||47||12||21||33||4||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1943–44||Chicago Black Hawks||NHL||50||23||49||72||4||9||4||8||12||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1944–45||Chicago Black Hawks||NHL||50||23||31||54||0||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1945–46||Chicago Black Hawks||NHL||50||26||24||50||2||4||2||1||3||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1946–47||Chicago Black Hawks||NHL||52||9||17||26||6||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1947–48||Tulsa Oilers||USHL||64||38||33||71||10||2||0||1||1||0
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1948–49||St. Paul Saints||USHL||2||2||0||2||2||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1949–50||St. Paul Saints||USHL||21||7||15||22||2||2||0||0||0||2
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1950–51||St. Paul Saints||USHL||23||3||9||12||0||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1951–52||Cincinnati Mohawks||AHL||2||0||0||0||2||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 483
! 161
! 236
! 397
! 24
! 42
! 10
! 14
! 24
! 2
|}
Coaching statistics
{| class="wikitable"
!Season !! Team !! League !! Type !! GP !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! Pct !! Note
|-
| 1947–48 || Tulsa Oilers || USHL || Head coach || 66 || 23 || 34 || 9 || 0 || 0.417 ||
|-
| 1948–49 || St. Paul Saints || USHL || Head coach || 66 || 36 || 20 || 10 || 0 || 0.621 ||
|-
| 1949–50 || St. Paul Saints || USHL || Head coach || 70 || 29 || 30 || 11 || 0 || 0.493 ||
|-
| 1950–51 || St. Paul Saints || USHL || Head coach || 64 || 33 || 26 || 5 || 0 || 0.555 ||
|-
| 1951–52 || Cincinnati Mohawks || AHL || Head coach || 68 || 29 || 33 || 6 || 0 || 0.471 || Lost in round 2
|}
See also
- Captain (ice hockey)
References
External links
- "Hall of Famer Clint Smith dies at age 95," New York Rangers, Thursday, May 21, 2009.
- Goldstein, Richard. "Clint Smith, Who Won Title With Rangers, Dies at 95," The New York Times, Friday, May 22, 2009.