Billy smith biography

1950-

Canadian hockey player

Billy Smith was the National Hockey League's (NHL) dominant goalie of the early 1980s.

A clutch performer who shone particularly bright in the post-season, Smith's goaltending led the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1979 and 1983, during which he set an NHL record for goalies, winning eighty-eight of 132 playoff games.

Smith's playoff performance led Islander coach Al Arbour to call Smith "the greatest money goaltender of all time" in Newsday.

Billy smith biography

But more than his dogged Stanley Cup play, "Battlin' Billy" was famous for his unrelenting aggression—some would have called it viciousness—in the goal crease. He used his stick like a battle axe on the bodies of opponents who came too close and he regularly led NHL goalies in penalty minutes.

In 1979, Smith earned a place in NHL history, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to score a goal.

William John Smith was born in P