Ronald George Stewart (July 11, 1932 – March 17, 2012) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1973, as well as a coach. He spent the first half of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and won the Stanley Cup three times from 1962 to 1964. The latter part of his playing career was spent with the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, and New York Islanders. He would later coach the Rangers for half of a season, and spent a full season as coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

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, and was part of three Leafs’ Stanley Cup-winning teams 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. Sawchuk told the police that he accepted full responsibility for the events. Sawchuk never recovered and died shortly thereafter from a pulmonary embolism on May 31, 1970 at the age of 40. A Nassau County grand jury exonerated Stewart and ruled that Sawchuk's death was accidental.John A. Drobnicki, "Sawchuk, Terrance Gordon ('Terry')," in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: Sports Figures (Scribner's, 2002), Vol. 2, pp. 335-336.

Coaching After retiring from play, Stewart became a coach. He was the head coach of the Rangers for the start of the 1975–76 season, but after a record of 15 wins, 20 losses and 4 ties in 39 games, was fired. His next NHL job was with the Los Angeles Kings for the 1977–78 season. He had a record of 31 wins, 34 losses and 15 ties over the season, and was not brought back for the next season.

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 Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1949–50Toronto MarlborosOHA-Jr.302574150118 1950–51Toronto MarlborosOHA-Jr.532223454913681431 1951–52Toronto MarlborosOHA-Jr.219101957————— 1951–52Barrie FlyersOHA-Jr.2913183143————— 1951–52Guelph BiltmoresOHA-Jr.—————1177144 1951–52Guelph BiltmoresMC—————121071710 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————— 1967–68St. Louis BluesNHL19751211————— 1967–68New York RangersNHL5577141961122 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————— 1972–73 New York Islanders NHL222244————— NHL totals 1,353 276 253 529 560 119 14 21 35 60

Coaching record Team Year Regular season Postseason G W L T Pts Finish ResultNew York Rangers1975–763915204(34)4th in Patrick(fired) Los Angeles Kings1977–7880313415773rd in NorrisLost in preliminary round Total 119465419

See also List of NHL players with 1,000 games played

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