1,353 regular season games in the National Hockey League. A Memorial Cup championship with the Guelph Biltmores in 1952. Three consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1960’s. A Calder Cup championship as head coach of the Springfield Indians in 1974-75. Ron Stewart is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame but it’s role players like him that propel teams to win. Stewart left us just a few years ago, losing his battle against cancer.
Junior Hockey
Hockey Card Collection
NHL Career
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Ron Stewart – Junior
Stewart played three years in the Ontario Hockey Association Junior ‘A’ from 1949-50 to 1951-52. He mostly played for the Toronto Marlboros. In his second season, he scored 22 and assisted on 23 for 45 points over 53 regular season games with Toronto. In the Robertson Cup playoffs, Ron played 13 more and contributed 14 points as the Marlboros lost in the finals to the Barrie Flyers in six games.
Ron Stewart Collection
For the complete Ron Stewart collection in video form, simply click on the play button in the centre of the image to the right. To view the larger format in YouTube, either click on the title at the top or click play then click on the YouTube logo at the bottom.
In his final season of junior, Stewart was traded to the Barrie Flyers 21 games into the season. Ron played 29 games with Barrie and added 31 points. However, in the Robertson Cup playoffs, he joined the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters. In the OHA playoffs, he scored seven and assisted on seven over 11 games as the Biltmores captured the title over the St. Catherines Teepees.
Guelph then advanced to the Memorial Cup finals before sweeping the Regina Pats for the championship. Over the Mem Cup run, Stewart added another 17 points over 12 games. That Guelph team was star-studded with the likes of Andy Bathgate, Harry Howell and Dean Prentice on the Alf Pike coached team.
One source even shows him playing two games with the Windsor Spitfires in that final year of junior.
Ron Stewart – NHL
Stewart jumped right to the National Hockey League without a single game in the minors. From 1952-53 to 1972-73, Ron played 1,353 regular season games in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders. Over that time, he scored 276 and assisted on 253 for 529 points.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Stewart played an additional 119 games, adding 35 points. In 1958-59 and 1959-60, he was a member of the Maple Leafs, a team that fell both seasons in the finals to the Montreal Canadiens. For three straight years from 1961-62 to 1963-64, Ron helped the Maple Leafs to Stanley Cup championships.
In June, 1965, Stewart was traded to the Boston Bruins for Andy Hebenton, Orland Kurtenbach and Pat Stapleton. Two years later, the St. Louis Blues took Ron in the 15th round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, 90th overall.
In 1971-72, Ron played his only 18 games in the minors, appearing with the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League. That was a year after being involved in the off-season incident that resulted in the death of Hockey Hall of Fame goalie and New York Rangers teammate Terry Sawchuk.
Ron Stewart – Head Coach
Stewart coached for just four seasons but was rather successful. In 1973-74, Ron took over the head coaching job with the Portland Buckaroos in the WHL. The team placed fourth in the six team league during the regular season and lost in the finals to the Phoenix Roadrunners in five games. On that team was Andy Hebenton, one of the players he was traded to the Bruins for back in 1965.
The following year, he took the reigns of the Springfield Kings in the AHL. During the course of the season, the team reverted back to their original nickname ‘Indians’. Springfield placed fourth in the five team Northern Division but were also fourth overall in the ten team league. The Indians captured the Calder Cup championship with a victory over the New Haven Nighthawks in the finals. In a battle of underdogs, New Haven was fifth in the Northern during the regular season and sixth overall.
His success in the AHL got Stewart a promotion for 1975-76. He started the year as head coach of the NHL’s New York Rangers. However, 39 games into the season, he was fired and replaced by John Ferguson. The team did not reach the post season despite a lineup that boasted Rod Gilbert, Phil Esposito, Steve Vickers and Rick Middleton.
1977-78 was Stewart’s last season in the coaching business. He spent the season as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. The team reached the post season despite just 77 points over 80 games. The Kings lost in the preliminary round 2-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The pieces were there but the Triple Crown Line of Marcel Dionne, Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer were still a year away from taking off. Rogie Vachon appeared in 70 of the team’s 80 regular season games.
Ron Stewart – Rookie Card
The Ron Stewart rookie card appears as number 94 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst set. The card is valued as a common card and shows him as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The back of the card is void of stats as Parkhurst took a leap of faith that Stewart would make the pros.
However, the back of the card is evidence that Ron did indeed appear with the Windsor Spitfires in that 1951-52 season. This means he played for four of the league’s ten teams that year – 40%.
Ron Stewart Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1949-50 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA | 30 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 41 |
| 1950-51 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA | 53 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 49 |
| 1951-52 | Windsor Spitfires | OHA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1951-52 | Toronto Marlboros | OHA | 21 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 57 |
| 1951-52 | Barrie Flyers | OHA | 29 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 43 |
| 1952-53 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 29 |
| 1953-54 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 72 |
| 1954-55 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 53 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 20 |
| 1955-56 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 69 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 35 |
| 1956-57 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 65 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 28 |
| 1957-58 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 51 |
| 1958-59 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 21 | 13 | 34 | 23 |
| 1959-60 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 67 | 14 | 20 | 34 | 28 |
| 1960-61 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 51 | 13 | 12 | 25 | 8 |
| 1961-62 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 60 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 14 |
| 1962-63 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 63 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 26 |
| 1963-64 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 65 | 14 | 5 | 19 | 46 |
| 1964-65 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 65 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 33 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 17 |
| 1966-67 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 56 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 31 |
| 1967-68 | New York Rangers | NHL | 55 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 19 |
| 1967-68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 19 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 11 |
| 1968-69 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 18 | 11 | 29 | 20 |
| 1969-70 | New York Rangers | NHL | 76 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 14 |
| 1970-71 | New York Rangers | NHL | 76 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 19 |
| 1971-72 | Providence Reds | AHL | 18 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 |
| 1971-72 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 42 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 1971-72 | New York Rangers | NHL | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 1972-73 | New York Rangers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1972-73 | New York Islanders | NHL | 22 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 1353 | 276 | 253 | 529 | 560 |