Buddy Smith Named ECHL Most Valuable Player
April 5, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release
RiverBladesÂ’ center Buddy Smith was named the East Coast Hockey LeagueÂ’s Most Valuable Player on Friday, three days after winning the ECHL Scoring Title.
Smith, 28, a native of Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, set new team records with 74 assists and 104 points this season, and becomes the first RiverBladesÂ’ player ever to earn MVP honors. In addition, Smith also had his first career 30-goal season and was named first-team center on the All-ECHL Team last week.
The speedy 5-8, 145-pound center was the only player in the ECHL to eclipse the century mark this season. He finished 8 points ahead of ColumbiaÂ’s Rejean Stringer, who was second in the scoring race with 96 points.
Smith, the starting center for the Southern Conference at the 2003 Compuware ECHL All-Star Game this past January, scored his first goal of the year just 21 seconds into the season-opener. He finished the regular season with 11 power-play goals, 3 game-winning goals, and a shooting percentage of 18.3 percent. Earlier this year, Smith had an 11-game point streak from October 16th through November 17th, racking up 18 points in that span.
Buddy is in his second stint with Arkansas. He played 15 games last year, scoring 12 points (3-9) during that time. He finished last season with the Salzburg RedBulls in Austria and then signed with the RiverBlades as a free agent in the offseason.
The Blades are in the postseason for the first time since 2001, and host the Louisiana IceGators in Game 3 of the best-of-five Southwest Division Semi-Finals tomorrow night at the Alltel Arena. For more information, call 501-975-2327.
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ECHL Stories from April 5, 2003
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