Billy Smith

By E. Spencer Kyte
Love of Sports Correspondent

Remember during last year’s playoffs, when Sean Avery stood in front of Martin Brodeur doing that stupid “shield the goalie” move?

Brodeur just gave him a couple little shoves and tried to look around him, then complained to the refs once they blew the play dead.

Everyone got a bit of a laugh, the league changed the rule and Avery got more time on SportsCenter than he rightfully deserved. Nonsense like that wouldn’t have happened with Billy Smith in net.

William John “Billy” Smith is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, two-time All-Star, member of the 1981 Canada Cup Team, four-time Stanley Cup winner and owner of a Jennings, Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy. All those accomplishments aside, people still recall him most for his nickname and persona in the crease where he was simply “Battlin’ Billy.”

Before Ron Hextall was crosschecking Chris Chelios and earning the “Hack-stall” moniker, Smitty was slashing ankles and chopping down trees between the pipes for an Islander team that made five straight trips to the Stanley Cup finals, winning four of them.

I can honestly say he’s one of the fiercest competitors to ever play the game; a guy who took losses so hard that he’d refuse to even speak to anyone after a game, let alone sign an autograph or stop for a picture.

But that was Smitty. He was so intense that in practice one day he went after Mike Bossy, the greatest goal scorer the Islanders have ever had, because he objected to a shot Bossy took against him. Even in practice he didn’t let teammates take liberties, but wanted them to play with the same fire and determination that earned him a place in The Hockey News’s list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players back in 1998.

Underneath the fiery persona and icy stare, Smitty was also a great and willing teacher - ask Kelly Hrudey, Jeff Hackett, Rollie Melanson, or his son Chad. Heck, ask my brother; growing up, no one had a greater influence on my brother between the pipes than Billy.

See, Battlin’ Billy Smith happens to be my godfather.

Another thing about Smitty is that while his regular season statistics weren’t the flashiest, much like his style of play, he still ranks alongside Patrick Roy and Brodeur as one of the most clutch goaltenders in NHL history. During the Islanders’ final cup run in ’83, he held the high-scoring, high-powered Oilers to six goals during a four-game sweep, en route to earning the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Nowadays, however, goalies flop around like they’ve been shot whenever someone so much as breathes on them. Instead of falling over and lying on the ground, perhaps they should take a page from the Book of Billy. Grab your stick with two hands and chop some wood – down around the ankles – or maybe drive the shaft of your stick into someone’s back a couple of times. That’ll get the message across.

Don’t forget: The Book of Billy isn’t just about hacking and slashing. It’s about winning when everything is on the line and competing harder than everyone else on the ice.

We could use a little more of both in today’s NHL.

Love ya uncle Billy, here’s some Old School Love!