Alf Smith (ice hockey)

Alfred Edward Smith (June 3, 1873 in Ottawa, Ontario August 21, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario) was a Canadian amateur and professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators (a.k.a. Silver Seven) and Kenora Thistles. He had six younger brothers who played senior-level hockey in Ottawa: Daniel (b. 1876), John (b. 1878), Harry (b. 1883), Tommy (b. 1886), Billy (b. 1889) and George Smith (b. 1891). He was captain of the Ottawa Hockey Club and also coached the team.

Alf Smith
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1962
Alf Smith as a member of the 1905 Ottawa Silver Seven
Born (1873-06-03)June 3, 1873
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died August 21, 1953(1953-08-21) (aged 80)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Right
Played for Ottawa Hockey Club
Playing career 18941909
Alf Smith, second from left in the back row, with the Ottawa New Edinburghs in 1908.

Hockey career

Alf Smith began his hockey career playing for the Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC) of the AHAC in the 1890s. In 1897 he retired from the Ottawa HC. In 1898, he played for the Ottawa Capitals intermediate team, but did not finish the season because he was ruled to be ineligible. In 1896, Smith had accepted a $100 bonus for play with the Capitals lacrosse team. By 1898, the Amateur Athletic Association of Canada ruled that he was ineligible for play in amateur hockey.[1] He would not play for several years, but did coach the Ottawa Hockey Club to the 1901 CAHL title.

In 1901–02, he returned to active play, as a professional, in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League for Pittsburgh.[2] The following year he returned to Canada to coach the Ottawa HC to their first Stanley Cup championship against the Montreal Victorias in 1903. In 1903–04 he became reinstated as an amateur and he returned to play, playing right wing on a line that featured "One Eyed" Frank McGee. As a player-coach, he would eventually lead the team to consecutive Stanley Cup victories in 1904, 1905, and 1906, the club by then known as the Silver Seven.

Smith was known as a rough player. In 1907 Smith and teammates Harry Smith and Charles Spittal were charged with assault after beating Montreal Wanderers players Hod Stuart, Ernie "Moose" Johnson and Cecil Blachford with their sticks. Harry Smith was acquitted while Spittal and Alf Smith were each fined $20.[3]

For the 1906–07 season, McGee retired and his place on the top line was taken by Alf's brother Harry.[4] At the conclusion of the 1907 ECAHA season, Smith moved west to play with the Stanley Cup champion Kenora Thistles, playing in the MPHL finals. He was also a player during their unsuccessful Stanley Cup challenge rematch versus the Montreal Wanderers, where his presence along with Harry Westwick caused the series to be played under protest.[5] He played one final season with Ottawa in 1908, scoring 12 goals in 9 games.

In 1908–09, he had an eventful season. Lured back to Pittsburgh for the newly reformed Western Pennsylvania Hockey League, he was suspended from two teams for rough play. He returned to Ottawa and played with several former Silver Seven players on the Senators of the Federal League. He made time that season to coach the Ottawa Cliffsides to the first Allan Cup championship, only to lose it to Queen's University in a challenge. This was his final season of play.

In 1909–10, he resumed his coaching career with Renfrew, the so-called "Millionaires" of the new National Hockey Association (NHA). He returned to coach the Ottawa Hockey Club in 1913 and coached the team until 1917. Smith later coached and managed teams in Moncton, New Brunswick, and North Bay, Ontario.

Along with Harvey Pulford, Harry Westwick and Russell Bowie, Smith was one of the final active players who had played major senior hockey in the 19th century. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

He died in Ottawa on August 21, 1953.[6]

Career stats

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1894–95 Ottawa HC AHAC 8505
1895–96 Ottawa HC AHAC 8707
1896–97 Ottawa HC AHAC 812012
1901–02 Pittsburgh Athletic Club WPHL 141192017
1903 Ottawa HC CAHL
1904* Ottawa HC CAHL 48086
Stanley Cup 71301320
1904–05* Ottawa HC FAHL 81301330
Stanley Cup 5110119
1906* Ottawa HC ECAHA 101301336 21010
Stanley Cup 47076
1907* Ottawa HC ECAHA 91701719
Kenora Thistles MHL-Pro 1202 21013
Kenora Thistles Stanley Cup 22023
1907–08 Ottawa HC ECAHA 91201220
1908–09 Pittsburgh Duquesne WPHL 2303
Pittsburgh Bankers WPHL 3202
1909 Ottawa Senators (FHL) FHL 11010
WPHL totals 191692517
ECAHA totals 284204275 21010
Stanley Cup totals 183303338

* Stanley Cup Champion.

Source: "Legends of Hockey -- The Legends -- Honoured Player -- Smith, Alf -- Statistics, Awards & Career". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2009-01-08.

NHL coaching record

TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsDivision rankResult
Ottawa Senators1918-19 181260241st in NHLLost in Stanley Cup Finals

References

  1. Kitchen 2008, p. 88.
  2. "The usual method" The Gazette (Montreal). Aug. 14, 1903 (pg. 2).
  3. Chi-Kit Wong 2009, pp. 160–161
  4. "Ottawas won at Winnipeg" Ottawa Citizen. Dec. 31, 1906 (pg. 8).
  5. "Challengers decisively defeat Kenora Thistles" Winnipeg Tribune. Mar. 25, 1907 (pg. 6).
  6. "Hockey, Football, Lacrosse Great, Alf Smith, Dies" Ottawa Journal. Aug. 22, 1953 (pg. 1).
General
  • Kitchen, Paul (2008). Win, Tie or Wrangle. Manotick, Ontario: Penumbra Press. ISBN 978-1-897323-46-5.
  • Chi-Kit Wong, John (2009). Coast to Coast: Hockey in Canada to the Second World War. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0802095329.
Preceded by
first
Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators (Original)
1901
Succeeded by
Pete Green
Preceded by
Pete Green
Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators (Original)
1903–1906
Succeeded by
Pete Green
Preceded by
Pete Green
Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators (Original)
1913–1916
Succeeded by
Eddie Gerard
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