Ron Stewart

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For the former Canadian football player see Ron Stewart (football player).

Ronald George Stewart (born on July 11, 1932) was a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1973, as well as an NHL coach. As of February 1, 2006, Stewart is #36 on NHL All-Time Games Leaders for number of games played at 1353.

1 Childhood
2 Hockey career
- 2.1 NHL player
- 2.2 NHL coach
3 Retirement
4 Teams as player
5 References

[edit] Childhood

Stewart was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1932. He grew up in Mobile, Alabama. His father Gus was a lumberjack, which meant that the family moved from place to place so Gus could find work.^{[citation needed]} Ron quickly took a liking to ice hockey.

[edit] Hockey career

Ron continued to develop into a formidable hockey player, and played his first two seasons of junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros, until being traded to three different teams in his last year of OHA play. The Marlboros traded Stewart to the Windsor Spitfires where he played only two games, then moved on to the Barrie Flyers. He was acquired by Guelph for the playoffs, where he played exceptionally as the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters won the Memorial Cup in 1952.

[edit] NHL player

The next season saw Stewart make his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he would play for thirteen straight seasons. Stewart joined the team while they were in the process of rebuilding but would see better days down the road. The Leafs and Stewart would win three straight Stanley Cup championships from 1961–62 to 1963–64. During his time in Toronto, Stewart played in four All-Star Games, '55, '62, '63 and '64.

Stewart finally left the Leafs when he was traded to the Bruins in 1965, where he spent two seasons.

From Boston, he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft but was traded to the New York Rangers during the season.

Stewart was involved in a tragic incident in New York that claimed the life of famed goaltender Terry Sawchuk, his housemate at the time. Alcohol was involved and none of the witnesses could accurately recall what triggered the dispute, but many speculate that Sawchuk confronted Stewart about household chores. According to Emile Francis, Sawchuk's and Stewart's coach at that time, in an interview that can be view on "Legends of Hockey," Stewart took a swing at Sawchuk in the bar, they were then told to leave, and Sawchuk afterwards took a swing at Stewart when they returned home. Apparently, Sawchuk's blow had glanced off Stewart and he fell into a barbecue pit, seriously injuring himself. Sawchuk died from these injuries despite being operated on.

After three years with the Rangers, Stewart was traded to Vancouver, only to be dealt back to New York for their run for the Cup in 1972. Boston defeated the Rangers in the Cup final. After being dealt one last time, to the Islanders in the 1972–73 season, he retired from the game as a player.

[edit] NHL coach

Stewart stepped behind the bench to coach minor league teams and made it back to the NHL for the 1975–76 season as the coach of the Rangers and then with the Los Angeles Kings for 1977–78.