Neil Smith

Quick Facts

Full Name	Neil Smith
Occupation	Ice Hockey Player
Date Of Birth	Jan 9, 1954(1954-01-09)
Age	70
Birthplace	Toronto
Country	Canada
Birth City	Toronto
Horoscope	Aquarius

Neil Smith Biography

Neil Smith is one of the most popular and richest Ice Hockey Player who was born on January 9, 1954 in Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Neil Smith (born January 9, 1954) is a Canadian ice hockey broadcaster, and previously the general manager of both the New York Rangers from 1989–2000 and (briefly) the New York Islanders in 2006. He was also the owner and head coach of the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL. He last was the president, general manager, and governor of the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL. He now is an on-air analyst for the NHL Network.

The next few years saw the team struggle to stay in contention, but having traded away many of its prospects for the Stanley Cup run, the team had to increasingly rely on aging veterans acquired through expensive free agency. A major dispute between Smith and hard-driving coach Mike Keenan ended when Keenan left for the St. Louis Blues after the championship season. Unfortunately, none of the coaches that succeeded Keenan could motivate the highly-paid stars that played for the Rangers in the mid to late 1990s.

Attempting to once more bring in an older superstar to re-ignite the magic of 1994, Neil Smith signed Wayne Gretzky in 1996, reuniting him with his old teammate Messier. During the 1996–97 playoffs the Rangers earned their way into the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were beaten by a bigger and younger Philadelphia Flyers squad. The reunion would last only a year, however, as Messier left amid an acrimonious dispute with the organization. With his departure the Rangers sank into mediocrity; though Smith acquired a succession of veteran players with expensive contracts and drafted a host of promising young players, the team continued to underperform and miss the playoffs until Smith’s departure from the organization following the 1999–2000 NHL season. The Rangers did not again reach the playoffs until 2006.

Smith reportedly had grown frustrated with his lack of authority on personnel and staffing decisions, as owner Charles Wang had at that time instituted a setup where decisions were made collectively by a group of advisors rather than by the general manager alone. Wang believed that Smith was incapable of fitting within this model and subsequently fired him. Pat LaFontaine, who had recently been hired by the team as a senior adviser, quit his post the same day in reaction to the firing of Smith. Smith was named as an assistant to Dallas Stars general manager Doug Armstrong shortly after being let go by the Islanders, October 27, 2006.

Smith was hired by the Rangers in 1989 to be their general manager, inheriting a team that included future stars Brian Leetch and Mike Richter. Under Smith’s watch, the Rangers groomed Tony Amonte. Smith was also responsible for drafting star players such as Sergei Nemchinov, Alexei Kovalev, Doug Weight, and Sergei Zubov before he made his mark in 1991 with a blockbuster trade for superstar Mark Messier, who was immediately given the captaincy by the Rangers organization. Over the next three seasons, Smith continued to shape the team through trades and free-agent signings, acquiring several players from the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, including Kevin Lowe, Adam Graves, Esa Tikkanen, Jeff Beukeboom, Craig McTavish and Glenn Anderson.

Neil Smith Net Worth

Neil Smith is one of the richest Ice Hockey Player from Canada. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Neil Smith 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Smith played junior hockey before attending Western Michigan University. As a freshman, he was selected to the All-American team as a defenceman, and was named team captain his sophomore season. He was drafted in 1974 by the New York Islanders as the first ever draft pick from WMU. He spent several seasons in the minor leagues before working for the organization as a talent scout. With Smith working in an important capacity for the Islanders minor league system, the Islanders’ Central Hockey League affiliate, the Indianapolis Checkers (which at the time was the Islanders most prominent minor league team) won the Adams Cup in 1981–82. While on the Island, he worked closely with the Islanders chief scout and assistant GM, Jim Devellano, and when Devellano was contacted by the new Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch to become GM in the summer of 1982, Smith moved with him to the Red Wings, where he won two Calder Cup championships as the general manager of the team’s minor league affiliate, the Adirondack Red Wings in 1985–86 and 1988–89.

During the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Smith and assistant coach Colin Campbell discovered several Red Wings players, including Bob Probert and Petr Klima, out past curfew. The incident occurred at a suburban Edmonton bar called “Goose Loonies”, and led to an apology being issued by Red Wings head coach Jacques Demers. Smith would later hire Campbell as head coach of the New York Rangers in 1994.

Messier became one of the most popular athletes in New York, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1992, and the Rangers grew into an elite team. The Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the NHL’s best regular season record twice, and in 1994 won their long-awaited fourth Stanley Cup championship. Neil Smith remains the only GM in the modern era to win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Neil Smith height 6 ft 2 in Neil weight 195  lbs & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Neil Smith Dating?

According to our records, Neil Smith is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Neil Smith’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Neil Smith. You may help us to build the dating records for Neil Smith!

Facts & Trivia

Neil Ranked on the list of most popular Ice Hockey Player. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Canada. Neil Smith celebrates birthday on January 9 of every year.

What happened to Neil Smith?

After a successful three-year run in the Mile High City, Neil Smith spent his last season in the NFL with the then-San Diego Chargers 2000. He retired at the end of the 2000 NFL season.

Is Neil Smith a Marxist?

“ Neil Smith was the per- fect practicing Marxist —com- pletely defined by his contradictions.”1 Born in Leith, Scotland, one of four children of a school-teaching father and homemaking mother in Dalkeith, Neil had an indestructible passion for the natural world, bird watching, and gardening, and he became geography’s …

Is Neil Smith in the Hall of Fame?

Neil Smith is inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame and member of the second unit on the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team. He is certainly one of the best defensive ends in franchise history.

What did Neil Smith do?

Smith is credited with theories about the gentrification of the inner city as an economic process propelled by urban land prices and city land speculation , rather than by cultural preferences for living in the city in his seminal article “Toward a Theory of Gentrification: A Back to the City Movement by Capital, not …

How old is Neil Smith?

56 years (April 10, 1966)