Bruins Friday! Today’s Boston player is defenseman Dallas Smith.

Smith’s road to the NHL was sort of an odd one. He came to the Bruins during the 59-60 season at the age of 18, but only lasted five games. He came up the next season and played in all 70 games. However, he was sent back down for most of 61-62 season and all of the next three seasons. He made two more brief trips to the Bruins during the next two seasons before FINALLY sticking with the club in 67-68. He would play for the Bruins for the next ten seasons.

During his time with the B’s, he was partnered up with some dude named Orr on the blueline. With guys like Buyck, Esposito, Sanderson, Cheevers, et al, the Bruins became one of the powerhouses of the NHL and would go on to win two Stanley Cups.

Over his career, Smith was thought of as one of the toughest defensemen in the league, both physically and ability wise. He was the perfect compliment to Orr; he’d handle the offensive end of things while Smith focused on the defensive aspects. That’s not to say that Smith didn’t have any puck moving skills. He could usually be counted on for around 30 points a year.

Here is some Smith trivia. In the first year that the NHL kept track of plus/minus, Smith led the league with a +33. A few years later he put up a +94 which was good for 2nd in the league behind Orr’s OBSCENE +124 (a record). The +94 remains the 4th highest ever behind Orr, Larry Robinson, and Gretzky. Dallas Smith FTW! He ended up with a career +335, putting him 18th all-time. He also played in four straight All-Star games from 70-71 to 73-74.

His teammates called him ‘Half Ton’ not because of his size, but because whenever they were in a different city playing, he’d look for half-ton trucks to buy. Why? Because in the off-season, Smith was a farmer up in Manitoba. Yeah, he was a pretty tough dude.

He retired at the end of the 76-77 season after Boston lost to Montreal. However, he was convinced by former-Bruin teammate Phil Esposito to sign with the Rangers, but only played one disappointing (by his own admission) season before hanging up the skates for good.

This card comes from the 62-63 Topps set. I really like the simplicity of the design. The blue borders really pop and I think most ofthe player photos are head shots, so it’s nice to see a sort of straight on action shot here. A couple of things about this particular card:

1. It lists Smith as a forward, but I’m fairly certain he was a defenseman throughout his career.

2. He is shown wearing the #7. According to hockey-reference.com, he wore #8, #11, and #20, the number he wore for the majority of his career.

3. The back of this card KILLS me. First, it reads like an English translation of the French text (and it may be) but the part I really enjoy the most is this bit, “For a time Dallas looked like man to fill roomy shoes of Fern Flaman. But inexperience showed up again.” !!!! I feel there is a story here. What did he do?!?

4. He wouldn’t appear on a card again until the 66-67 Topps set.

I think I might try to find some other players from this set; I already have a Jean Ratelle that I’ll post one day.

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