McGill University Athletics

(REVISED: Sept. 2, 2020)

Peter Smith, a native of Lachine, Que., completed his 20th season behind the McGill bench in 2019-20 and announced on Sept. 2, 2020 that he was stepping down. He will be staying on staff at McGill as a coaching mentor for all sports.

Smith is the winningest women's hockey coach in McGill history and one of only three Canadian university women's hockey coaches to reach the 500-win plateau, trailing only Concordia's Les Lawton (626) and Alberta's Howie Draper (613).

He owns a career record of 534-229-33 in 796 games overall (.671) behind the McGill bench. In regular season play, his record stands at 276-70-11 in 357 contests for a lofty .789 winning percentage.

Smith, a former McGill varsity swimmer, was appointed head coach of the Martlets in 1999 and a decade later, took a one-year sabbatical in 2009-10 to serve as an assistant coach with the gold-medal winning Canadian Olympic women’s team.

He spent two decades as bench boss at McGill and has guided the Martlets to a berth at the Canadian national championship tournament in 17 of his 20 seasons, winning four gold medals, five silvers and five bronzes.

(NOTE: McGill also posted a silver-medal finish under interim head coach Amey Doyle when Smith was on sabbatical to coach at the 2010 Olympics.)

Over his four national championship seasons (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014) the team posted a combined 131-5-0 record against Canadian university opponents. The Martlets were unable to compete in his last appearance as the 2020 tourney was canceled abruptly on the second day, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An eight-time recipient of Quebec university coach-of-the-year honours (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), Smith is also a three-time CIS coach of the year, winning the award in 2003, 2008 and 2012.

The 2007-08 title marked the first time that any McGill women's team, in any sport, had captured a CIS / U SPORTS championship.

The next season, the Martlets repeated as national champs, going undefeated in both league (18-0) and post-season action (7-0) for the second straight year. The third crown was won in 2010-11, when the Martlets went 33-0 against Canadian university teams, including a 20-0 record in league play and a 7-0 mark in post-season play. The fourth title occured in 2013-14, when the Martlets registered a 29-4 mark against Canadian university  teams, including 18-2 in league play and 6-2 in the post-season.

Since those four national crowns, the 2017 basketball Martlets became the only other McGill team to win a U SPORTS national crown.
 

INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUND

Smith served with the national women's team as an assistant coach with Team Canada, helping guide them to multiple gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Winnipeg & Selkirk, MB, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turino, the 2006 Four Nations Cup in Kitchener, the 2005 Torino Ice pre-Olympic tourney in Italy, the 2005 Four Nations Cup in Hameenlinna, Finland and the 2005 world championships in Linkoping, Sweden.

He was also elevated to head coach of the Canadian national women's team in June 2007 and guided Canada to a gold medal at the Four Nations Cup in Leksand, Sweden (2007), followed by a silver medal at the 2008 IIHF world championships in Harbin, China. He returned to his role as an assistant coach in for the 2009 world championships and Canada came away with another silver.

He served as head coach of the national under-22 team that captured two of three games against the U.S. national under-22 squad in Ottawa (August, 2006) …  Won gold at the Air Canada Cup in Germany in 2005 as head coach of Canada’s 2004-05 national under-22 team, and in 2004 serving as an assistant coach with the under-22 team.

COACHING BACKGROUND PRIOR TO McGILL:

Coached Team Quebec at three Esso women’s national championships, winning gold as a head coach in 2002 after previously earning back-to-back silver medals as an assistant coach… Coached the West Island (QC) Blues, an under-21 women’s AA team for four seasons, winning regional championships in 1997 and 1998... During that time, Smith also directed the Lac St-Louis under-16 girls regional team at the provincial championships.

PERSONAL

Resides in Lachine, Quebec with his wife Evangeline, better known as "Vango"… Has two daughters, Natalie and Christina, both of whom played varsity hockey under his direction at McGill… A NCCP Level 4 certified coach … Holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education (1979) and a master’s degree in sports psychology (1986), both from from McGill.

A former junior hockey player with the Lachine Rapids, Smith went on to swim for McGill, serving as team captain from 1977 to 1979. He qualified for the CIAU national swim championships in all three of his years.

A long-time employee with the McGill athletics department beginning in the late 1970s as a coordinator of the intramurals program, Smith also served as manager of professional development for varsity coaches at McGill.

PETER SMITH'S CAREER COACHING RECORD AT McGILL
(updated May 2, 2020)