James Smith is a Canadian retired ice hockey defenceman who was an All-American for Denver.
Career Smith was a solid player for Denver for most of his time with the Pioneers. For his first two seasons, he produced decent numbers but wasn't able to help the team finish any better than 5th in the 6-team WCHA. As a junior, the team got marginally better, recording a winning season for the first time since he joined the squad but still ended up 5th in the standings (now with 8 teams in the conference). All of that changed in his senior season.
Denver jumped out to a fast start in 1985 and rode the success to a first-place finish. Smith nearly doubled his career best offensive output and led the defensive corps in scoring, ending up in a tie for 5th in the nation from the blueline. He was named an All-American and helped the Pioneers win the WCHA Tournament for the first time since 1973. They also made their first NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years and reached the Frozen Four.
After graduating, Smith was able to use the success he found as a senior to continue his playing career. He produced respectable numbers for the Adirondack Red Wings over a season and a half but retired as a player in 1988.
Statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular Season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1982–83 Denver WCHA 3610182810————— 1983–84 Denver WCHA 365152024————— 1984–85 Denver WCHA 377182540————— 1985–86 Denver WCHA 4710405037————— 1986–87 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 778273543————— 1987–88 Adirondack Red Wings AHL 413101336————— NCAA totals 156 32 91 123 111 — — — — — AHL totals 118 11 37 48 79 — — — — —
Awards and honours Award Year AHCA West Second-Team All-American 1985–86
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