Photo appears courtesy of Kathleen Kramer/Bee Group Newspapers

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame announced that former Elmira College men's ice hockey coach and current Chicago Blackhawks Director of Player Evaluation, Barry Smith, is one of 15 members to be inducted this fall as part of the Class of 2018.

A Tonawanda native and Kenmore West Senior High School grad, Smith began his well-decorated coaching career with the Soaring Eagles in 1975. In six seasons at the helm of the Purple and Gold, he guided the men's ice hockey program to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back New York Collegiate Hockey Association (NYCHA) titles in 1978-79 and 1979-80. Smith's EC teams won no fewer than 20 games in his last five years as the bench boss, which included a 26-5-0 overall record while scoring a program-high 248 goals during the 1978-79 campaign. The following year, the Soaring Eagles won 25 games and reached the NCAA title game, ultimately finishing as national runners-up.

As a professional coach in the NHL ranks, Smith has been a part of seven Stanley Cup Championships. Three of those championships were earned with the Detroit Red Wings under the tutelage of the legendary Scotty Bowman in 1997, 1998 and 2002. Prior to his stint in Detroit, he won a pair of Stanley Cup Championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and most recently, Smith helped the Blackhawks secure titles in 2013 and 2015. He's also spent time with the Buffalo Sabres and served as an assist on Wayne Gretzky's staff in Arizona.

Smith, who received a master's in education from EC, was inducted into the Ithaca College Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 for his work as a member of the football and men's ice hockey teams. As a senior, he was named captain of the Ithaca men's ice hockey team under Head Coach Keith Forbes, who went on to become the first head coach in Elmira's storied history in the inaugural 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons.

According to its website, the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame "honors those who have enhanced our lives with their performances and commitment to Western New York sports, an effort surpassed only by the positive impressions they have left on our athletes of tomorrow."

For more information, visit the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame website by clicking here.