[1] Smith picked up his nickname when he played on the same line as Ray Powell for the Omaha Knights following World War II.
He was to begin play for the Wings in their farm system, starting with the Detroit Holzbaugh Ford of the Michigan-Ontario Hockey Association in the 1939–40 season.
Smith started the next season in the American Hockey Association with the first place St. Louis Flyers and playing for the first time with his brother, Dalton.
For the 1945–46 season, Smith made the jump to the United States Hockey League (USHL), after a short stint with the Capitols again, and joined play for the Omaha Knights.
The following season the Knights acquired Nelson Boyce who would befriend Smith and form a strong scoring duo that would stay together for the next two years.