Alex Smart

Alexander Smart (May 29, 1918 – April 18, 2005) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played one season for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and spent the majority of his career in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Smart played junior hockey in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Portage Terriers for two seasons. In 1937–38, joined the senior ranks with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association and scored 23 points in 12 games at a goal-per-game pace. The following season, he began a three-year stint in the Montreal City Hockey League (MCHL) with the Verdun Maple Leafs and Montreal Sr. Canadiens.

In 1941–42, Smart moved with the Sr. Canadiens to the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). Affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, Smart was called up to the NHL in 1943 and, on January 14, became the first player in league history to score a hat trick in his NHL debut (this feat was later matched by Réal Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques in 1979, Fabian Brunnström of the Dallas Stars in 2008, Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers in 2010, and surpassed by Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016, who scored four). He completed the season with 5 goals and 2 assists in 8 games – the lone NHL stint of his career.