Gary "Suitcase" Smith: From Unemployed to WHA Champion (From the PHA Podcast)
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2021
- Gary “Suitcase” Smith was one of hockey’s most colorful goaltenders of the 1960s and 1970s.
Gary was the subject of many wild stories during his 14-year career, but his unlikely rise from out-of-work and out-of-shape retiree in 1978 to WHA champion (with the Winnipeg Jets) in 1979 may have been the craziest tale of them all. In the 12 months in between, he was teammates with 17-year olds Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, won a Central League Championship, suffered a franchise folding, weathered a franchise merger, signed an NHL contract on a napkin and -- luckily -- listened to a wife, who was not yet ready for Gary to be a stay-at-home husband.
We’ll pick the story up late in 1978, when Smith was returned to the last place Minnesota North Stars after he had worn out his welcome with the Washington Capitals. Little did Gary realize that North Stars GM Lou Nanne acquired him only to ensure the team obtained the services of another player named Smith.
The following discussion is an excerpt from my entertaining talk with Gary on the Pro Hockey Alumni Podcast.
Host: Mark Willand
www.prohockeyalumni.org
prohockeyalumni@gmail.com
#Worldhockeyassociation #winnipegjets #MinnesotaNorthStars - Sport
Gary Smith once tried to skate the puck all the way down the ice when he was with the Leafs. Sadly there seems to be no surviving video of this historic feat. He claimed later that he had bought his parents a color tv and wanted to give them something worth watching!
Nobody has better stories than Axe … great guy, too!
@@ProHockeyAlumni I saw Gary do it once on TV during an exhibition game when he was with the Black Hawks in the early '70s. He skated up the slot, past his own blue line and shot the puck, but missed the opposing goal. WGN-TV announcer Jim West was astounded. Quite a memory. Smith was probably Tony Esposito's best back-up of the 1970s, certainly the biggest physically. He had excellent blue-liners in front of him such as Bill White, Whitey Stapleton, Dougie Jarrett and Keith Magnuson. Sounds like a nice fellow.
One night at the Montreal Forum, Canucks goaltender Gary Smith caught a shot in his glove and proceeded to punt the puck to center ice..... as a ten year old kid I was impressed.....as were several CFL teams !!
He was quite a charater - a wondering goalie that never stayed in his net. Drove Imlack nuts. Remember that game where he skated with the puck passed centre ice. That incident caused quite the stir in the building. Everybody was buzzing about that one ! Was that incident that caused the NHL to add a new rule where the goalies can not cross centre ice?
@@edwardbreadman9473 I read about that in "Hockey's Greatest Season". Yes, I believe that rule was brought in because of Smith's escapade.
Brilliant! ...another great job!
A wonderful, engaging interview with a terrific interviewee !
Thank you for all you do for hockey, Mark Willand !
I saw Gary backstop the Oakland Seals V the Leafs in those same grey seats he mentions. Bruce Gamble was in net for Toronto. If I remember correctly, Gary used to wander up to the blue line a lot.
Was it this televised game? Feb. 7, 1970. Smitty takes the puck to center ice, about 1:56:15!
czcams.com/video/ESsNgDzcl1I/video.html
I remember him with the Canucks in 74/75.
Ha...decades ago I was told that Gary Smith was traded to the North Stars (for Ceasar Maniago) a few weeks after Frank Griffiths introduced his wife to Gary at a Canucks club party. For a conversation topic Frank had said to Gary that his wife is the financial controller for Dr. Ballard's dog food brand. Gary said, "I recognize you from the can".
Yes, He led the Canucks to the Smythe Division championship. When Bobby Clarke won the MVP award that season he said Smith was more deserving.
Canucks voted to the NHL all-star team in 1974-75 : Gary Smith and Tracy Pratt.
Quite the character and a helluva nice guy. I tipped back a few with Gary and his late brother Brian on Elgin Street in Ottawa in the 80's. Nice piece, thanks for sharing.
Very cool! Nobody tells hockey stories like Gary. THX for watching
I remember how excited I was when Canucks got him from Chicago with Jerry Korab for Dale Tallon ! A real character.
steal of a deal ... the 74-75 season was magic for Suitcase and the Canucks.
And thanks to the Canucks for sending King Kong Korad for Pratt and Gould
@@wyldthing00 Thank you Sabres for sending us Pratt, an all-star defenseman in '75 and Gould, a 30 goal scorer in '75.
Smitty is the reason goalies can't cross centre ice. He once took off with the puck then punted it down the ice. True story
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it ... I just let Gary do all the talking and he was awesome. THX!
Fantastic story.
Got in a fight at a Blackhawk game when he was with Minnesota. Smitty shut them out 3-0 and some disgruntled hawks fan punched me, and I throttled him! For Smitty!!!
Cool story! Throwing knucks for Smitty!
Remember seeing Gary Smith playing Junior A for both St. Mike's and Neil McNeil 1961-62.
Can you imagine social media if someone sign a contract in a napkin ?? Those days we're just amazing !!
In the 70's I bought a six plex with existing tenants. A 3 page contract written on the hood of my truck. Last year I had to transfer the funds from one type of retirement account to another in the same bank. There were 18 pages of documentation to complete. Ridiculous.
Love the content, new subscriber here.
Thank you ... like you, we respect the history of the game. Gary is incredibly interesting.
I would have taken Gretzky's sweater
tough to leave $1M in a locker stall
Love the channel man👍 just wondering I guess this means you aren’t doing the podcast anymore? I know u haven’t up loaded in a year and a half, but I was hoping it was just a long hiatus😂 but turning your podcasts into CZcams videos is a great idea
Thanks so much ... I've done 72 podcasts and they are still getting a lot of views ... I think I'll get back to it, but there became a glut of podcasts when pandemic hit ... CZcams allows me to add the visual element and it seems to be resonating with fans ... Either way, I'm glad you are here!
Pro Hockey Alumni yeah definitely man👍 I’m loving the videos..u have a great voice and a talent for both either way..I’m still listening to all the podcasts, I really enjoy them on Spotify. Love the channel too👍
Gary Smith was a very good goalie who played behind some really bad teams during his career. Only his sense of humor kept him going through it all.
yes, excellent goalie and, luckily, he had a great sense of humor.
great story
Thanks for listening ... Suitcase has more great stories than anyone I've met.
State of Hockey here, says Bobby Smith is a forgotten great.
Agreed, SOH ... thanks for watching.
He has over 1,000 career points. Almost a hall of famer.
The Maple Leafs lost both goaltenders Gary Smith and Al Smith in the original 1967 expansion draft. Could you imagine those 2 characters as teammates on the Maple Leafs? They would have drove Imlach nuts (hint, if you haven't done so already Al Smith would be another great character to profile).
yes .. and, of course, Al would eventually drive Imlach nuts in Buffalo!
Al went to Pittsburgh. Can't believe the Leafs actually went with Bruce Gamble
Wow pretty cool good karma! Nice story as an x goalie myself
I have a book called '67,about the last time the Leafs won the Cup,the era in which they used to win a lot and the rot that was setting in even as they were winning Cups. They missed out on Bobby Orr and Brad Park and possibly Ken Dryden. Bad trades,blunders,the appalling pedophile thing. Ballard and the Smythes. You know the story. There's also a chapter on goalies the Leafs had during the 60s,including the wacky Gary Smith and the aspiring playwright Al Smith. Smith once tried to score,wanted to kick the puck high enough to hit MLG's scoreclock. He comically drove Imlach nuts the few times he got to play. He had no use for Tony Esposito when the two won the Vezina in Chicago(Espo wouldn't let Smith play). Wonderful down to earth who has for sure had his share of tragedy. His sportscaster brother was murdered by someone who shouldn't have been released from a mental hospital. His son was,I think,born with spina bifada and fell resulting in a life in a wheelchair. I think Smith ended up owning a racehorse. Sorry if you folks already know all of this. Super nice buy. The book is excellent---even if you don't care about my Leafs.
I never thought much of Lou Nanny.
ultimately just couldn't get it done in Minny
I never heard him referred to as *axe* it was always *suitcase*
right .. he prefers Axe, but mostly is referred to as "suitcase"
x blackhawk
Didn't Messier start with the Stingers
The season after the Racers.
he had a 5-game trial with Racers then signed with Cincy
I thought so too. Maybe I'm wrong.
@@mike196212 HockeyDB, the best thing to happen to the internets.
I believe he played like 40 games that year with the Stingers and only scored 1 goal. Hard to believe for one of the greatest players of all time.