Floyd Smith (ice hockey)

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image =

| image_size = 230px

| position = Right Wing

| shoots = Right

| catches =

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 10

| weight_lb = 180

| played_for = Boston Bruins
New York Rangers
Detroit Red Wings
Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|5|16}}

| birth_place = Perth, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| career_start = 1954

| career_end = 1972

| halloffame =

| website =

}}

Floyd Robert Donald SmithNational Hockey League Guide and Record Book 1974-75, pg. 239 (born May 16, 1935) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and coach.

Biography

Smith grew up in Galt, Ontario, playing junior hockey with the Galt Black Hawks. He made his National Hockey League debut for the Boston Bruins, playing 3 games with the team in 1955, but he was mostly mired in the minors during the early portion of his career. He played 23 games with Boston over the next two seasons, while serving as a significant contributor{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}} on the Hershey Bears club. Smith then spent five years with the New York Rangers organization, reaching the NHL for a 29-game stint in 1961. During this period, he was a dominant force with the Springfield Indians, scoring 82 points in 71 games in 1960.{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14364|title=Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Floyd Smith|author=|date=|publisher=|access-date=September 24, 2016}}

In 1963, Smith finally earned a chance to become an NHL regular after being acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. He scored an NHL career-high 49 points during the 1965–66 season. He was part of a six-player blockbuster transaction in which he was traded along with Norm Ullman and Paul Henderson from the Red Wings to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Frank Mahovlich, Pete Stemkowski and Garry Unger on March 4, 1968. The Maple Leafs and Red Wings were in fifth and sixth place respectively at the bottom of the East Division standings at the time of the deal.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zCpmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EoINAAAAIBAJ&pg=842%2C726774 "Mahovlich, Ullman Traded," The Edmonton Journal, Monday, March 4, 1968.] Retrieved January 25, 2023. He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres during the 1970 expansion draft and served as the team's first captain.{{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/smithfl01.html|title=Floyd Smith NHL Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com|author=|date=|publisher=|access-date=September 24, 2016}}

Smith became an assistant coach with the Sabres in 1972. The next year, he was hired as head coach of the team's top farm club, the AHL's Cincinnati Swords. He won a Calder Cup in the first of his two years with the team. In 1974, he became Buffalo's head coach, leading the team to a loss in the Stanley Cup Finals in his first year. However, the Sabres were eliminated in the second round the next two years, and he was fired at the end of the 1976-77 season.

He also coached the World Hockey Association's Cincinnati Stingers for the 1976–77 season and was Toronto Maple Leafs coach for the first 68 games of 1979–80 until being injured in a car accident on March 14, 1980, rendering him unable to fulfill his duties as coach for the remainder of the season. He remained with the Leafs as a scout until being promoted to general manager, a position he held for the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19790721&id=mBQyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dqQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5395,1784096]

Smith resides in southern Erie County, New York.{{cite web| url = https://buffalonews.com/2019/10/05/buffalo-sabres-nhl-2/| title = Everything old and new was golden for Sabres in home opener |work=The Buffalo News |last=Harrington |first=Mike |date=October 6, 2019 |access-date=July 20, 2022}}

Career statistics

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Regular season

! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |

! colspan="5" | Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

! GP

! G

! A

! Pts

! PIM

1952–53

| Galt Black Hawks

| OHA-Jr.

| 6

| 0

| 1

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1953–54

| Ottawa Eastviews

| M-Cup

| —

| 12

| 8

| 9

| 17

| 0

1954–55

| Boston Bruins

| NHL

| 3

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1964–55

| Galt Black Hawks

| OHA-Jr.

| 46

| 29

| 40

| 69

| 60

| 4

| 1

| 4

| 5

| 0

1955–56

| Hershey Bears

| AHL

| 49

| 10

| 19

| 29

| 31

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1956–57

| Boston Bruins

| NHL

| 23

| 0

| 6

| —

1956–57

| Hershey Bears

| AHL

| 41

| 12

| 25

| 37

| 32

| 6

| 0

| 1

| 8

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1957–58

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 70

| 25

| 50

| 75

| 60

| 13

| 2

| 11

| 13

| 4

1958–59

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 68

| 25

| 32

| 57

| 34

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1959–60

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 71

| 31

| 51

| 82

| 26

| 10

| 1

| 5

| 6

| 10

1960–61

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 29

| 5

| 9

| 14

| 0

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1960–61

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 40

| 19

| 27

| 46

| 26

| —

1961–62

| Springfield Indians

| AHL

| 69

| 41

| 36

| 77

| 19

| 11

| 0

| 4

| 2

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1962–63

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 51

| 9

| 17

| 26

| 10

| 11

| 2

| 3

| 5

| 4

1962–63

| Pittsburgh Hornets

| AHL

| 16

| 8

| 7

| 15

| 6

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1963–64

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 52

| 18

| 13

| 31

| 22

| 14

| 4

| 3

| 7

| 4

1963–64

| Pittsburgh Hornets

| AHL

| 21

| 14

| 17

| 31

| 14

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1964–65

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 67

| 16

| 29

| 45

| 44

| 7

| 1

| 3

| 4

1965–66

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 66

| 21

| 28

| 49

| 20

| 12

| 5

| 2

| 7

| 4

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1966–67

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 54

| 11

| 14

| 25

| 8

| —

1966–67

| Pittsburgh Hornets

| AHL

| 13

| 5

| 9

| 14

| 10

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1967–68

| Detroit Red Wings

| NHL

| 57

| 18

| 21

| 39

| 14

| —

1967–68

| Toronto Maple Leafs

| NHL

| 6

| 1

| 7

| 0

| 4

| 0

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1968–69

| Toronto Maple Leafs

| NHL

| 64

| 15

| 19

| 34

| 22

| —

1969–70

| Toronto Maple Leafs

| NHL

| 61

| 4

| 14

| 18

| 13

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1970–71

| Buffalo Sabres

| NHL

| 77

| 6

| 11

| 17

| 46

| —

1971–72

| Buffalo Sabres

| NHL

| 6

| 0

| 1

| 2

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 616

! 129

! 178

! 307

! 207

! 48

! 12

! 11

! 23

! 16

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | AHL totals

! 458

! 190

! 273

! 463

! 258

! 40

! 3

! 21

! 24

Coaching record

rowspan="2"\|Team	rowspan="2"\|Year	colspan="7"\|Regular Season	colspan="1"\|Post Season
class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
BUF\|\|1971–72 \|1\|\|0\|\|1\|\|0\|
\|(51)	6th in East	Interim head coach
BUF\|\|1974–75 \|80\|\|49\|\|16\|\|15\|
\|113	1st in Adams	Won in quarter-finals (4-1 vs. CHI) Won in semi-finals (4-2 vs. MTL) Lost in Stanley Cup Finals (2-4 vs. PHI)
BUF\|\|1975–76 \|80\|\|46\|\|21\|\|13\|
\|105	2nd in Adams	Won in preliminary round (2-1 vs. STL) Lost in quarter-finals (2-4 vs. NYI)
BUF\|\|1976–77 \|80\|\|48\|\|24\|\|8\|
\|104	2nd in Adams	Won in preliminary round (2-0 vs. MIN) Lost in quarter-finals (0-4 vs. NYI)
CIN (WHA)\|\|1978–79 \|80\|\|33\|\|41\|\|6\|
\|72	6th in WHA	Lost in quarter-finals (1-2 vs. NE)
TOR\|\|1979–80 \|68\|\|30\|\|33\|\|5\|
\|(75)	4th in Adams	Fired
colspan="2"\|BUF Total \|\|241\|\|143\|\|62\|\|36\|
\|322	1 division title	16-16 (0.500)
colspan="2"\|TOR Total \|\|68\|\|30\|\|33\|\|5\|
\|65		0-0 (0.000)
colspan="2"\|NHL Total \|\|309\|\|173\|\|94\|\|41\|
\|387	1 division title	16-16 (0.500)
colspan="2"\|WHA Total \|\|80\|\|33\|\|41\|\|6\|
\|72		1-2 (0.333)

References

External links

{{icehockeystats}}

{{succession box | before = Position created | title = Buffalo Sabres captain | years = 1970–71 | after = Gerry Meehan}}

{{succession box | before = Gord Stellick | title = General manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs | years = 1989–91 | after = Cliff Fletcher}}

{{succession box | before = Punch Imlach | title=Head coach of the Buffalo Sabres | years = 1971–72 | after=Joe Crozier}}

{{succession box | before = Joe Crozier | title=Head coach of the Buffalo Sabres | years = 1974–77 | after=Marcel Pronovost}}

{{succession box | before = Jerry Rafter | title=Head coach of the Cincinnati Stingers | years = 1978–79 | after=none}}

{{succession box | before = Roger Neilson | title=Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs | years = 1979–80 | after=Dick Duff}}

Category:1935 births

Category:Boston Bruins players

Category:Buffalo Sabres captains

Category:Buffalo Sabres coaches

Category:Buffalo Sabres players

Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States

Category:Canadian ice hockey centres

Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches

Category:Cincinnati Stingers

Category:Detroit Red Wings players

Category:Galt Black Hawks players

Category:Hershey Bears players

Category:Living people

Category:New York Rangers players

Category:Sportspeople from Perth, Ontario

Category:Pittsburgh Hornets players

Category:Ice hockey people from Lanark County

Category:Springfield Indians players

Category:Toronto Maple Leafs coaches

Category:Toronto Maple Leafs executives

Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players

Category:Toronto Maple Leafs scouts

Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen