Jack Stewart (ice Hockey) - Playing Career

Playing Career

Stewart played junior hockey with the Portage Terriers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1935–36 and 1936–37, where he was discovered by a Winnipeg businessman who suggested that James Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings, sign him. He was sent to play his first season of professional hockey for the team's minor league affiliate, the Pittsburgh Hornets of the International-American Hockey League (IAHL) for the 1937–38 season.

Partway through his second season with the Hornets, the Red Wings recalled Stewart as part of a bid to shake up their team which has been struggling. He appeared in 32 games in his NHL rookie season, and immediately established his place on the team.

In his fifth season, 1942–43 Stewart was named to the NHL First All-Star Team on defence and helped lead the Red Wings to the NHL regular season title and the Stanley Cup championship. Stewart's NHL career was interrupted by World War II. He remained in Canada for the war, serving as a Leading Aircraftman in the Royal Canadian Air Force and playing hockey for the Montreal RCAF and Winnipeg RCAF teams between 1943 and 1945. Following his return to the NHL, he went on to earn four additional all-star selections: he was named to the second team in 1946 and 1947, and to the first team again in 1948 and 1949. Additionally, he played in the first four National Hockey League All-Star Games between 1947 and 1950. Stewart won his second Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 1950.

Following the championship, the Red Wings dealt Stewart to the Chicago Black Hawks as part of a nine-player trade that was, at the time, the largest in NHL history. Stewart, Harry Lumley, Al Dewsbury, Pete Babando and Don Morrison were sent to Chicago in exchange for Metro Prystai, Bob Goldham, Gaye Stewart and Jim Henry. The Black Hawks named Stewart team captain and assistant coach.

However, he missed the majority of the 1950–51 NHL season and his career was believed over after he suffered a serious spinal injury in a December 14, 1950, game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Doctors diagnosed his injury as a ruptured disc and urged him to retire. He was told following the injury that he was lucky he could still walk without a cane not to risk further damage on the ice. Instead, Stewart had the disc removed. After completing what Black Hawks' team doctors described as "most remarkable" recovery, he opted to continue his career and signed with Chicago for the 1951–52 season.

In his first game of the season, Stewart suffered a minor skull fracture after colliding with teammate Clare Martin, an injury that forced him out of the lineup for several weeks. He again shocked observers by returning to the ice, appearing in two games with Chicago following his injury. However, by mid February 1952, his injuries led Stewart to ask the Black Hawks for his release so that he could seek a minor league coaching position.

Stewart was considered as coach of the New Westminster Royals of the Pacific Coast Hockey League, but chose to take the reins of the senior A Chatham Maroons in the Ontario Hockey Association. He served as a player-coach, appearing in 45 games for the Maroons in 1952–53, scoring 2 goals and 29 points while accumulating 129 penalty minutes. Stewart played the final games of his career in 1953–54, finishing with 8 assists in 21 games.

The following seasons saw Stewart move between several teams as head coach. He left the Maroons to guide the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen in 1955–56, then the Windsor Bulldogs for two seasons between 1957 and 1959. At one point in 1957, he was rumoured to become the next coach of the Black Hawks, a job that went instead to Rudy Pilous. Stewart moved into the professional ranks in 1961, taking over as the coach of Chicago's Eastern Professional Hockey League affiliate, the Sault Thunderbirds. One year later, Stewart moved to the Pittsburgh Hornets, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. He was replaced after one season as Pittsburgh won only 18 games in 1962–63. Stewart retired following the dismissal.