Doug Smail
Encyclopedia
Douglas Dean Smail is a retired professional
ice hockey
left winger who played in the NHL
for thirteen seasons from 1980 through 1993.
for three seasons from 1977 to 1980, scoring 87 points in 40 games in his final season in the WCHA
. His performance was enough to warrant notice from the Winnipeg Jets, and the next season he was a full-time NHL player.
Smail played eleven seasons with Winnipeg, being a top two-way player for them, as he had twelve consecutive seasons in which he scored at least one shorthanded goal, with a total of 28 shorthanded goals in his career.
Perhaps Smail's greatest claim to fame was when he set the NHL record for fastest goal after the opening faceoff by scoring a goal five seconds after the game started on 20 December 1981. Smail finished his career with the Minnesota North Stars
, Quebec Nordiques
and Ottawa Senators
, but never achieved the success he had in Winnipeg.
After Smail's NHL career was over, he played three seasons in Britain for Fife Flyers
and Cardiff Devils
before retiring. He was the first player ever to sign for a British team directly from an NHL team when he signed for Fife Flyers
from Ottawa Senators
.
He now resides in Colorado with his wife and three children. Smail was the Assistant Coach of the U-16 Team Rocky Mountain AAA Hockey program, where he coached alongside former NHL player Rick Berry last year, and is now the Head Coach of the Rocky Mountain Roughriders U-15 AAA squad.
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
left winger who played in the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
for thirteen seasons from 1980 through 1993.
Playing career
Doug Smail starred at the University of North DakotaUniversity of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
for three seasons from 1977 to 1980, scoring 87 points in 40 games in his final season in the WCHA
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference....
. His performance was enough to warrant notice from the Winnipeg Jets, and the next season he was a full-time NHL player.
Smail played eleven seasons with Winnipeg, being a top two-way player for them, as he had twelve consecutive seasons in which he scored at least one shorthanded goal, with a total of 28 shorthanded goals in his career.
Perhaps Smail's greatest claim to fame was when he set the NHL record for fastest goal after the opening faceoff by scoring a goal five seconds after the game started on 20 December 1981. Smail finished his career with the Minnesota North Stars
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
, Quebec Nordiques
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...
and Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, but never achieved the success he had in Winnipeg.
After Smail's NHL career was over, he played three seasons in Britain for Fife Flyers
Fife Flyers
The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest ice hockey team in Scotland, and also in the United Kingdom, beating the Nottingham Panthers by 8 years...
and Cardiff Devils
Cardiff Devils
The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team currently plays in the temporary Cardiff Arena...
before retiring. He was the first player ever to sign for a British team directly from an NHL team when he signed for Fife Flyers
Fife Flyers
The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest ice hockey team in Scotland, and also in the United Kingdom, beating the Nottingham Panthers by 8 years...
from Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
He now resides in Colorado with his wife and three children. Smail was the Assistant Coach of the U-16 Team Rocky Mountain AAA Hockey program, where he coached alongside former NHL player Rick Berry last year, and is now the Head Coach of the Rocky Mountain Roughriders U-15 AAA squad.
Awards
- Named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team (1980)
- Named to the NCAA Championship Tournament MVP (1980)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1990)
- British Ice Hockey Writers AssociationIce Hockey Journalists UKIce Hockey Journalists UK, abbreviated to IHJUK, is an organisation which was set up in 1984 to promote the interests of ice hockey and its writers, photographers and broadcasters...
Player of the YearPlayer of the Year Trophy (IHJUK)The Player of the Year Trophy is an award given by Ice Hockey Journalists UK to the MVP in the Elite League and the English Premier League at the end of each season. In previous seasons it has been awarded to players in the British Hockey League's Premier and First Divisions, the Super League and...
(1994)
Records
- Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes franchise record for career shorthanded goals (25)
- Fastest goal to start an NHL hockey game (5 seconds)
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... | Team | League | GP | G Goal (ice hockey) In ice hockey, a goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line between the two goal posts and below the goal crossbar. A goal awards one point to the team attacking the goal scored upon, regardless of which team the player who actually deflected the puck into the goal belongs to... | A Assist (ice hockey) In ice hockey, an assist is attributed to up to two players of the scoring team who shot, passed or deflected the puck towards the scoring teammate, or touched it in any other way which enabled the goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the goal. There can be a maximum of two assists per goal... | Pts Point (ice hockey) Point in ice hockey has three official meanings:* A point is awarded to a player for each goal scored or assist earned. The total number of goals plus assists equals total points. In some European leagues, a goal counts as two points, and an assist counts as one... | PIM Penalty (ice hockey) A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Most penalties are enforced by detaining the offending player within a penalty box for a set number of minutes, during which, the player can not participate in play. The offending team usually may not replace the player on the ice,... | PM | PP | SH | GW | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1977–78 | University of North Dakota University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ... | WCHA Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference.... | 38 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 35 | 24 | 34 | 58 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 40 | 43 | 44 | 87 | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 30 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 45 | -7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 72 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 55 | -22 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982–83 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1983–84 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 66 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 62 | -5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 1984–85 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 80 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 45 | +12 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1985–86 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 73 | 16 | 26 | 42 | 32 | -10 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1986–87 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 78 | 25 | 18 | 43 | 36 | +18 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 1987–88 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 71 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 34 | +5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | ||
| 1988–89 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 47 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 52 | +12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 79 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 63 | +15 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Minnesota North Stars Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white... | NHL | 57 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 38 | -2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | Quebec Nordiques Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League... | NHL | 46 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 47 | -11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... | NHL | 51 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 51 | -34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | San Diego Gulls | IHL | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 20 | ||
| 1993–94 | Fife Flyers Fife Flyers The Fife Flyers, established in 1938, are the oldest ice hockey team in Scotland, and also in the United Kingdom, beating the Nottingham Panthers by 8 years... | Britain | 53 | 74 | 65 | 139 | 114 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Cardiff Devils Cardiff Devils The Cardiff Devils are a Welsh ice hockey team who play in the British Elite Ice Hockey League. The team currently plays in the temporary Cardiff Arena... | Britain | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Fife Flyers | Britain | 15 | 20 | 9 | 29 | 26 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 12 | ||
| 1995–96 | Cardiff Devils | Britain | 16 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 14 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | ||
| 13 seasons | NHL career | 845 | 210 | 249 | 459 | 602 | -35 | 6 | 28 | 32 | 42 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 49 | |||