Early Years
Born in Toronto, Smythe played hockey for Upper Canada College and Runnymede Collegiate Institute in the 1930s and then went to the University of Toronto where he graduated with an engineering degree. He played one season with the Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team. In the 1940–41 season, he briefly played with the Toronto Marlboros, managed by Harold Ballard, whom Smythe had known since he was a young boy.
Smythe enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. After the war, he became a partner in his father's gravel business. In the late 1940s, he was hired as coach of the Marlboros by Ballard, the team president. Smythe was later promoted to managing director.
Read more about this topic: Stafford Smythe
Famous quotes related to early years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)