Ron Stewart

Rugby union player
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroRugby union player
PlacesNew Zealand
wasAthlete Rugby union player
Work fieldSports
Gender
Male
Birth12 January 1904, New Zealand
Death15 December 1982Queenstown (aged 78 years)
The details

Biography

Ronald George Stewart (July 11, 1932 – March 17, 2012) was a professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1973, as well as an NHL coach.

Early career

After growing up in Alberta, Stewart moved to Ontario as a teen to participate in the Ontario Hockey Association, then the top ranked junior league. He won the Memorial Cup in 1952 with the Guelph Biltmores.

NHL player

Stewart played thirteen seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, taking part with them in three Stanley Cup championships in the early 1960s. After his time in Toronto, he spent two seasons with the Boston Bruins (1965-1966, 1966-1967). He was chosen by the St. Louis Blues in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, before being traded to the New York Rangers in that same season. He spent part of the 1971-1972 season with the Vancouver Canucks, but returned briefly to the Rangers. He spent his final year, 1972-1973, with the New York Islanders.

Death of Terry Sawchuk

After the 1969–1970 season ended, Stewart and Rangers teammate Terry Sawchuk, both of whom had been drinking, argued over expenses for the house they rented together on Long Island, New York. Sawchuk suffered severe internal injuries during the scuffle from falling on top of Stewart's bent knee. At Long Beach Memorial Hospital, Sawchuk's gallbladder was removed and he had a second operation on his damaged and bleeding liver. The press described the incident as "horseplay," and Sawchuk told the police that he accepted full responsibility for the events. At New York Hospital in Manhattan, another operation was performed on Sawchuk's bleeding liver. He never recovered and died shortly thereafter from a pulmonary embolism on May 31, 1970 at the age of 40. The last reporter to speak to him, a little over a week before his death, was Shirley Fischler (wife of Stan Fischler), who went to see him in the hospital as a visitor, not identifying herself as a reporter. Sawchuk told her the incident with Stewart "was just a fluke, a complete fluke accident." Fischler described him as "so pale and thin that the scars had almost disappeared from his face." A Nassau County grand jury exonerated Stewart and ruled that Sawchuk's death was accidental.

Coaching

After retiring from play, Stewart coached, most notably working with the Rangers in 1975-1976 and the Los Angeles Kings in 1977-1978.

Retirement

Stewart spent his latter years in British Columbia and Arizona. He had three children by his first wife, Barbara. He died of cancer in 2012.

Career statistics

  Regular season Playoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
1951–52Windsor SpitfiresOHA20110
1951–52Toronto MarlborosOHA21910190
1951–52Barrie FlyersOHA291318310
1952–53Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7013223529
1953–54Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7014112572
1954–55Toronto Maple LeafsNHL53145192040002
1955–56Toronto Maple LeafsNHL691314273551122
1956–57Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6515203528
1957–58Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7015243951
1958–59Toronto Maple LeafsNHL7021133423123366
1959–60Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6714203428100222
1960–61Toronto Maple LeafsNHL51131225851012
1961–62Toronto Maple LeafsNHL60891714111674
1962–63Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6316163226104042
1963–64Toronto Maple LeafsNHL6514519461404424
1964–65Toronto Maple LeafsNHL651611273360112
1965–66Boston BruinsNHL7020163617
1966–67Boston BruinsNHL5614102431
1967–68New York RangersNHL5577141961122
1967–68St. Louis BluesNHL19751211
1968–69New York RangersNHL751811292040110
1969–70New York RangersNHL761410241460002
1970–71New York RangersNHL76561119131010
1971–72Providence RedsAHL1865112
1971–72Vancouver CanucksNHL4231410
1971–72New York RangersNHL13022282130
1972–73New York RangersNHL110110
1972–73New York IslandersNHL2222441057126
NHL totals135327625352956011914213560

Coaching record

TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsFinishResult
New York Rangers1975–763915204(34)4th in Patrick(fired)
Los Angeles Kings1977–7880313415773rd in NorrisLost in Preliminary Round
Total119465419

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.