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Buddy Smith Wins ECHL Scoring Title

April 1, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


RiverBlades' center Buddy Smith has won the 2002-2003 ECHL Scoring Title, with 30 goals and 74 assists for 104 points.

Smith, 28, a native of Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, set new team records with those 74 assists and 104 points, and becomes the first RiverBlades' player ever to win the title. Smith also had his first career 30-goal season this year 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 Columbia's Rejean Stringer, who was second 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 return to the postseason for the first time since 2001, and host the Louisiana IceGators in Game 3 of the best-of-five series Saturday night at the Alltel Arena. For more information, call 501-975-2327.

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