Billy Smith

William John Smith (born December 12, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1970, Smith went through the minor leagues for two years before making his professional debut in 1972, where he won one of his five starts. In June of that year, he was drafted in the NHL Expansion Draft by the New York Islanders, where he would share duties for his first two seasons before becoming the primary goaltender in 1974, which would be the first of thirteen consecutive seasons where they would play the Stanley Cup playoffs.

In 1979, he was the first goaltender credited with scoring a goal. In 1980, Smith was the goaltender for 20 playoff games and won 15 of them as the Islanders won the first of four consecutive Stanley Cups. The 1981-82 season saw him win the Vezina Trophy in the first season where the trophy was given to the best all-around goaltender while the following season saw him win the William M. Jennings Trophy (alongside teammate Roland Melanson) in allowing the least amount of goals for the season. He then won the Conn Smythe Trophy for his performance that year where he went 13–3 with three shutouts and a 2.68 goals against average (GAA) as the Islanders won their fourth and final Cup. In the 1987-88 season, Smith won his 300th career game to become only the 9th goaltender with 300 wins in NHL history; he retired in the following season.

In 132 combined starts in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Smith won 88 of them; upon his retirement, his 88 wins were the all-time leader in wins for a goaltender in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In 1993, he had his number retired by the Islanders and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In, 2017 Smith was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.