Education
University of North Dakota.
University of North Dakota.
Doug Smail starred at the University of North Dakota for three seasons from 1977 to 1980, scoring 87 points in 40 games in his final season in the WCHA. His performance was enough to warrant notice from the Winnipeg Jets, and the next season he was a full-time National Hockey League player. Smail played eleven seasons with Winnipeg, being a top two-way player for them, as he had twelve consecutive seasons in which he scored at least one shorthanded goal, with a total of 28 shorthanded goals in his career. Perhaps Smail"s greatest claim to fame was when he set the National Hockey League record for fastest goal after the opening faceoff by scoring a goal five seconds after the game started on 20 December 1981.
After Smail"s National Hockey League career was over, he played three seasons in Britain for Fife Flyers and Cardiff Devils before retiring.
He was the first player ever to sign for a British team directly from an National Hockey League team when he signed for Fife Flyers from Ottawa Senators. Smail was the Assistant Coach of the U-16 Team Rocky Mountain American Automobile Association Hockey program, where he coached alongside former National Hockey League player Rick Berry last year, and is now the Head Coach of the Rocky Mountain Roughriders U-15 American Automobile Association squad.
Named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player (1980) Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes franchise record for career shorthanded goals (25) Fastest goal to start an National Hockey League hockey game (5 seconds).