Playing Career
Smith was selected 181st overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, by the Colorado Avalanche. After completing his junior career with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, Smith made his professional debut with the Hershey Bears, Colorado's AHL farm team. During his five years with the Colorado, Smith played only 15 games for Avalanche, with the bulk of his time being spent with the Bears.
After a year playing in Finland, and another year in the Phoenix Coyotes organization (playing for the AHL Springfield Falcons), Smith signed with the Edmonton Oilers on August 21, 2003.
In the three years Smith was part of the Oilers organization, he played nearly all the time with Edmonton's respective AHL affiliate. He collected another seven games during the 2005–06 season with the big club.
On July 13, 2006, Smith was signed by the Detroit Red Wings. After the Red Wings training camp, Smith was assigned to Detroit's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, with whom he played the 2006–07 season.
For the 2007–08 season, on July 11, 2007, Smith was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Added as depth for their affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, Smith's veteran presence helped guide the Crunch to the second round of the playoffs. Smith re-signed on July 8, 2008, with the Crunch for the following 2008–09 season. Named captain, the tenth in Syracuse history, Smith missed only one game in the year as the Crunch failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Unable to secure a contract with Syracuse for the 2009–10 season, Smith signed with the Louisiana IceGators of the Southern Professional Hockey League. After only 9 games with the IceGators citing lack of form and injury Smith announced his retirement on December 10, 2009.
Read more about this topic: Dan Smith (ice Hockey)
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