What if? What if the Los Angeles Kings had protected Billy Smith and had the duo of Smith and Rogie Vachon through the 1970’s? Those two, coupled with an offense led by Marcel Dionne and maybe the leadership of Butch Goring, if they could keep him from the Islanders too, would have made for a very strong west coast franchise.
But, the Kings did let the unproven Billy Smith go in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. As we all know, Smith was the backbone of an Islanders team that would win four consecutive Stanley Cup championships starting in 1979-80.
Junior and Minor Pro
Hockey Card Collection
NHL Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Billy Smith – Junior and Minor Pro
Billy Smith played the 1969-70 season in the QMJHL with the Cornwall Royals. Playing in 55 of Cornwall’s 56 regular season games, Smith recorded a 4.52 goals against average and one shutout in the high offense major junior league.
Billy Smith Collection
The Royals finished second in the Western Division but just 49 points in 56 games. In fact, all five teams in the west had losing records. Cornwall lost in the opening round of the playoffs to the Verdun Maple Leafs. The Royals were led offensively by Pierre Duguay with 64 points in a league where Guy Lafleur of the Quebec Remparts finished the year with 103 goals and 170 points.
A draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, Billy played 1970-71 with the Springfield Kings, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL Kings. In his rookie pro season, Smith played in 49 games, putting up a 3.51 GAA with two shutouts.
Those Springfield Kings were coached by Johnny Wilson and led up front by Butch Goring, a future teammate of Smith’s with the New York Islanders. Springfield finished the regular season with just 66 points over 72 games. However, they lost just one game in the playoffs and captured the Calder Cup championship over the Providence Reds in the finals.
The following year, Billy played in 28 games with Springfield, posting a 2.80 GAA and four shutouts. His shutout total was the most in the league, despite playing so few games. He also appeared in his first National Hockey League games, playing five matches for the Los Angeles Kings, his only five games with the team that drafted him. 1971-72 would be the last year Billy Smith would appear in the minors.
Billy Smith – NHL
Between 1971-72 and 1988-89, Billy Smith played in 680 regular season NHL games, putting up a career 3.17 GAA with 22 shutouts. His entire career was spent with the New York Islanders, with exception of those five games with Los Angeles in 1971-72. The Kings selected him in the fifth round of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, 59th overall.
At the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, the Islanders took Billy fourth overall. Before him, the Atlanta Flames took Phil Myre first overall and Dan Bouchard in the number three slot. New York selected Gerry Desjardins second overall.
Smith went on to help the Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup championships between 1979-80 and 1982-83. In 1982-83, Billy was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP. He put up what was great for the time numbers with a 2.68 GAA over 17 games.
In 1981-82, Billy was awarded the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. In 46 games, he posted a 2.97 GAA with no shutouts. By this time, the Vezina was awarded to the best goaltender in the league and was not solely based on numbers. The William M. Jennings Trophy has been introduced for the team with the lowest goals against.
That year, the duo of Denis Herron and Rick Wamsley from the Montreal Canadiens placed one-two for the lowest GAA and shared the Jennings Trophy. Smith and Roland Melanson from the Islanders finished in the third and fourth spots.
1981-82 also brought Billy his only First Team All-Star selection. In fact, it was his only all-star selection of his career. On the Second Team was Grant Fuhr of the Edmonton Oilers.
Smith and Melanson shared the Jennings Trophy in 1982-83 with the Islanders allowing the fewest goals in the National Hockey League. Yet, Billy was left out of the All-Star selections with Pete Peeters of the Boston Bruins taking First Team and Melanson taking Second Team honours.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Smith in 1993. He entered with Guy Lapointe, Edgar Laprade and Steve Shutt. On February 20, 1993, Billy’s number 31 was retired by the New York Islanders.
Billy Smith – Rookie Card
The Billy Smith rookie card appears as number 142 in the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee NHL hockey card set and as number 162 in the 1973-74 Topps NHL hockey card set. He is shown with the New York Islanders and never had a hockey card as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.
His final hockey card in included in the 1988-89 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets. He is shown with the Islanders and did appear in 17 games with Kelly Hrudey seeing the bulk of action for the Islanders that year.
Billy Smith Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1969-70 | Cornwall Royals | QMJHL | 55 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 4.52 |
| 1970-71 | Springfield Kings | AHL | 49 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 3.51 |
| 1971-72 | Springfield Kings | AHL | 28 | 1 | 38 | 4 | 2.80 |
| 1971-72 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4.60 |
| 1972-73 | New York Islanders | NHL | 37 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4.16 |
| 1973-74 | New York Islanders | NHL | 46 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3.07 |
| 1974-75 | New York Islanders | NHL | 58 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 2.78 |
| 1975-76 | New York Islanders | NHL | 39 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 2.61 |
| 1976-77 | New York Islanders | NHL | 36 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2.50 |
| 1977-78 | New York Islanders | NHL | 38 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 2.65 |
| 1978-79 | New York Islanders | NHL | 40 | 2 | 54 | 1 | 2.87 |
| 1979-80 | New York Islanders | NHL | 38 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 2.95 |
| 1980-81 | New York Islanders | NHL | 41 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 3.28 |
| 1981-82 | New York Islanders | NHL | 46 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 2.97 |
| 1982-83 | New York Islanders | NHL | 41 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 2.87 |
| 1983-84 | New York Islanders | NHL | 42 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 3.42 |
| 1984-85 | New York Islanders | NHL | 37 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 3.82 |
| 1985-86 | New York Islanders | NHL | 41 | 3 | 49 | 1 | 3.72 |
| 1986-87 | New York Islanders | NHL | 40 | 2 | 37 | 1 | 3.52 |
| 1987-88 | New York Islanders | NHL | 38 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 3.22 |
| 1988-89 | New York Islanders | NHL | 17 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.44 |
| NHL Totals | 680 | 12 | 489 | 22 | 3.17 |