Ben Smith (ice hockey, born 1988)

Benjamin "Ben" Alexander Smith ( born July 11, 1988 in Winston- Salem, North Carolina ) is an American professional ice hockey player who stands in October 2010 for the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League under contract, of which in 2008 he was also drafted. In parallel, he plays for the farm team of the Blackhawks, the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL.

Career

Youth

Ben Smith was born in Winston -Salem, but grew up in Avon, Connecticut. With the hockey games, however, Smith began in Boston about 175 remote with the Boston Junior Bruins and the Boston Bruins Little. From the summer of 2006, he then attended Boston College and played in parallel for their hockey team, the Eagles, in the Hockey East Association, a college sports league. As early as the freshman year, he led the team with 18 points in 42 games and was selected in the All- Academic team in the league and with the Bernie Burke Outstanding Freshman Award honored, which is awarded to the best player of the first college year. The next year he spent on the ice next to Nathan Gerbe, get him as a center of the first row 50 points in 44 games, which he was re-appointed to the All- Academic Team. Moreover, stood at the end of the season winning the championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA) to their final Boston qualified by placing in the Hockey East. In the final, the team defeated the University of Notre Dame 4-1; Smith subsequently reach a goal and an assist.

In the season 2007 /08 NHL Entry Draft followed in 2008, in which he was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks at 169 position. For now, however, he remained at his college team. The following season 2008/ 09 was both team performance and personally rather disappointing. It was not until his senior year, Smith has once again improved and scored 37 points in 42 games in which he led the team as an assistant captain. In addition, the team once again won the championship of the NCAA; in the final they defeated the University of Wisconsin -Madison 5-0. Smith was honored in the course of a Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player, with the trophy that had not received teammate Nathan Gerbe in the title two years earlier. In addition, he received his final season in Boston the Len Ceglarski Award for outstanding sportsmanship, which is awarded after an election among all head coaches of Hockey East.

Chicago Blackhawks

Following his college years he was taken in the spring of 2010 by the Rockford IceHogs, the farm team of the Blackhawks, under contract and not completed three games in the play- offs, where he achieved a goal. Direct to the start of the new season, in October 2010, Smith was first appointed to the NHL squad and announced on October 29 in the game against the Edmonton Oilers be NHL debut. In the course of the season he still came to twelve other NHL inserts, but played in the first line for the IceHogs, where he recorded 31 points in 62 games and was the best rookie of the year at the end of the season the Rockford 's Rookie of the Year Award.

Also changed in the following season 2011/12 Smith regularly between NHL and AHL, where he came again to 13 games for the Blackhawks. The Icehogs he increased his quota, however, significantly, as he also scored 31 points, but only 38 games as opposed to 63 needed from the last season. After those 38 games, he had to stop due to a hip replacement before the season end.

After he had extended his contract in June 2012 in Rockford for two years he spent almost the entire 2012/ 13 in the AHL; only two missions were at the end for the Blackhawks to book. One of them but this is a game of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2013, the total of the Blackhawks 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins, which also Smith's name appears on the prestigious trophy. With the start of the 2013/14 season, Smith was able to secure a place in the NHL squad the Blackhawks.

Awards and achievements

• 2007 Bernie Burke Outstanding Freshman Award
• 2007 Hockey East 's All- Academic Team
• 2008 Hockey East 's All- Academic Team
• 2010 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player
• 2010 Len Ceglarski Award
• 2011 Rockford 's Rookie of the Year Award
• 2013 Stanley Cup win with the Chicago Blackhawks

Career Stats

As of the end of the 2012/13 season

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )