Brian Smith

Brian Desmond (Smitty) Smith (September 6, 1940 – August 2, 1995) was a Canadian athlete and sportscaster. Smith was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of former professional ice hockey player Des Smith and brother of former professional hockey goaltender Gary Smith. Smith was a professional ice hockey player from 1960 to 1973. After his career, he was a broadcaster for CJOH-TV in Ottawa, until he was murdered in 1995.

Career
Brian played junior hockey for the Brockville Canadiens in 1959–60, making a Memorial Cup appearance in 1960. He began his professional ice hockey career with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the EPHL from 1960 to 1963. He refused to report to the Springfield Indians in 1963 because he was wary of mistreatment by coach Eddie Shore. He played the 1963–64 season in Austria, under the assumed name Bobby Smith before joining the Indians, but only after being suspended by International Ice Hockey Federation President Bunny Ahearne for playing without his release. He played for the Indians from 1964 to 1967 and participated in the team's strike against Shore in 1966. Smith, along with teammate Bill White, got the then little-known Alan Eagleson to represent the players in the conflict, which eventually started Eagleson's career as an agent. The players refused to practice and ultimately Shore was forced to sell the team to Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke for $900,000. When the NHL expanded in 1967, he was one of the players transferred to the new Los Angeles Kings franchise when they purchased the Indians franchise and its contracts, and he was one of the original Kings' players, playing the 1967-68 season with the Kings. He became the first player to score an NHL goal against his brother, as Phil Esposito was to score against his brother Tony for the first time the next season.

In the following season, he played for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League and the Memphis South Stars of the CHL. He then returned to the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars in 1968–69, and finished his career with the WHA Houston Aeros in 1972–73. He broke his jaw in an exhibition game and soon after his career ended.

In 1973, Smith joined Ottawa television station CJOH-TV as the station's 6 p.m. sports anchor, a position he held until his death. He also participated in charitable activities, and especially the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.

Death
On August 1, 1995, Smith was shot in CJOH's parking lot, just minutes after the end of the station's 6 p.m. newscast. He was on his way to a charitable fund-raising event for the Children's Wish Foundation. He died about 18 hours later on August 2 in the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The gunman, Jeffrey Arenburg, was an escaped mental patient who had gone to CJOH because he thought the station was broadcasting messages in his head. Smith was not the intended target, but was the first broadcast personality that Arenburg saw and recognized coming out of the building.

His death was a shock to the Ottawa sports community. The Ottawa Senators honoured Brian with a 'Smitty 18' patch on their jerseys, which they wore for the 1995–96 season and with a banner hanging in the rafters at Scotiabank Place. Flags flew at half-mast for a baseball game of the Ottawa Lynx, and a tribute was held at a game of the Ottawa Rough Riders, where players raised their helmets, while the crowd joined in a one-minute cheer.

Arenburg was found to be mentally deficient and was sentenced to a mental institution in 1997. He had previously been sentenced to a mental institution but had never reported. An inquest into Smith's killing recommended there should be more public protection and significant changes to the Mental Health Act of Ontario. The end result, Brian's Law, was passed on June 21, 2000 by the Ontario Legislature.

Smith's widow, Ottawa Citizen journalist Alana Kainz, established the Brian Smith Memorial Scholarship fund in Smith's memory, which provides tuition funds to attend college or university. It is administered by the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club. In 2001, the club renamed its summer camp from Camp Minwassin to Camp Smitty in Smith's honour. CJOH-TV established the Brian Smith Foundation to give disadvantaged children and young adults in the Ottawa region an opportunity to participate in athletics, recreation and education.