Bradley Allan Smith (born April 13, 1958 in
Windsor,
Ontario) is a retired professional
ice hockey player who played 242 regular-season and playoff games over nine
National Hockey League seasons with the
Vancouver Canucks,
Atlanta Flames,
Calgary Flames,
Detroit Red Wings, and
Toronto Maple Leafs. He was also a member of the
Central Hockey League's
Adams Cup winning
Dallas Blackhawks, 1978–79.
Early career
Described as a heady, defensive forward known for his physical play in
William Houston's book,
The Rise and Fall of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Smith led his hometown
Windsor Spitfires in scoring with 37 goals and 90 points during his rookie
OHA season, 1976–77. The following year he was traded to the
Sudbury Wolves for
Wes Jarvis. Registering 80 goals and 172 points in 136 OHA games, Smith was selected by Vancouver 57th overall in the
1978 NHL Entry Draft. During his first intrasquad game, he scored twice and got into a fight with
Dennis Kearns. Sent to the
CHL's
Dallas Blackhawks where he scored 17 times in 60 games in 1978–79, Smith earned a two-game call-up to the parent club.
NHL career
The following year, 1979–80, Smith spent 19 games with Vancouver, scoring his first NHL goal against the
Colorado Rockies on December 14, 1979, tying the game at 3-3 (as noted in a Vancouver Sun report by Arv Olson the following day). Minutes later, Smith set up the game-winning goal.
Smith also played for Vancouver in the 1979-80 Super Series, in which nine NHL teams played a...
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