Alf Smith

Alfred Edward Smith (June 3, 1873 in Ottawa, Ontario – August 21, 1953 in Ottawa, Ontario) was a Canadian amateur and professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators ( Silver Seven) and Kenora Thistles. He had six younger brothers who played senior-level hockey in Ottawa: Daniel (b. 1876), Jack (b. 1878), Harry (b. 1883), Tommy (b. 1886), Billy (b. 1889) and George Smith (b. 1891). He was captain of the Ottawa Hockey Club and also coached the team. He also played rugby football with the Ottawa Rough Riders, and, in 1902, won a championship with teammate in hockey as well Bouse Hutton. Hockey career Alf Smith began his hockey career playing for the Ottawa Hockey Club (Ottawa HC) of the AHAC in the 1890s. In 1897 he retired from the Ottawa HC. In 1898, he played for the Ottawa Capitals intermediate team, but did not finish the season because he was ruled to be ineligible. In 1896, Smith had accepted a $100 bonus for play with the Capitals lacrosse team. By 1898, the Amateur Athletic Association of Canada ruled that he was ineligible for play in amateur hockey. He would not play for several years, but did coach the Ottawa Hockey Club to the 1901 CAHL title. In 1901–02, he returned to active play, as a professional, in the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League for Pittsburgh. The following year he returned to Canada to coach the Ottawa HC to their first Stanley Cup championship against the Montreal Victorias in 1903. In 1903–04 he became reinstated as an amateur and he returned to play, playing right wing on a line that featured "One Eyed" Frank McGee. As a player-coach, he would eventually lead the team to consecutive Stanley Cup victories in 1904, 1905, and 1906, the club by then known as the Silver Seven.