William Donald Stewart (born October 6, 1957) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

and former

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

between 1977 and 1986, and then played in the

Italian Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

from 1986 to 1995. He later became a coach for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

during the 1998–99 season. Internationally Stewart played for the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

at the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, and two

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Playing career

As a youth, Stewart played in the 1969

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team from

York Mills York Mills is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is centred around Yonge Street and York Mills Road located in the district of North York. In 2010, it encompassed the fourth and seventh most affluent postal codes in Canada. It is re ...

. A native of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, he was drafted in the fourth round (68th overall) in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

and started his

career in 1977-78. He also went on to play for the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, and

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

. He left the NHL at the end of the 1985–86 season choosing to play hockey in Italy until his retirement in 1995.

Coaching career

Stewart began his professional coaching career with the Muskegon Fury of the

Colonial Hockey League Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

in 1995. After one season with Muskegon, Stewart took the head coaching position with the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

of the

OHL OHL or Ohl may refer to: Initialisms *Latvian Hockey Higher League, known in Latvian as the ''Optibet hokeja līga'' *Oberste Heeresleitung, the Supreme Army Command of Germany in World War I *Obrascón Huarte Lain, a Spanish construction company * ...

in 1996. Stewart got back into coaching professional hockey the following season with a stint in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

and coaching the

Saint John Flames The Saint John Flames were a Canadian ice hockey team in the American Hockey League from 1993 to 2003 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Calgary Flames bought and relocated the Utica Devils, to be their AHL affiliate. History The Saint J ...

to the Calder Cup Finals in 1998, losing to the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

in six games. Stewart was named head coach of the New York Islanders on January 21, 1999 after

Mike Milbury Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

himself stepped down to concentrate solely on his GM duties. After finishing the season with the Islanders, Stewart was relieved of his coaching duties and was replaced by

Butch Goring Robert Thomas "Butch" Goring (born October 22, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. He is a four-time ...

on April 30, 1999. In 1999, Stewart returned to the OHL to become the head coach of the

Barrie Colts The Barrie Colts are a junior ice hockey team in Ontario Hockey League, based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Pre-OHL history There were two previous Barrie Colts teams which played Junior A & B hockey in the Ontario Hockey Association, one from 1 ...

. The roster that year included the four "Brampton Boys", one of whom,

Ryan Barnes Ryan Donald Barnes (born January 30, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played two games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings during the 2003–04 season. The rest of his career, which lasted ...

, faced charges of assault with a weapon after a

stick Stick or the stick may refer to: Thin elongated objects * Twig * The weapon used in stick fighting * Walking stick, a device to facilitate balancing while walking * Shepherd's crook * Swagger stick * Digging stick * Swizzle stick, used to stir d ...

-swinging incident during a game in October. Later in the season, three of the team's other players were charged with

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

. Finally, Stewart himself made headlines and was banned from entering the United States for twice smuggling a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

-born player over the Canada-U.S. border in the baggage compartment of the team bus. Stewart infamously walked out of the

Halifax Metro Centre Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in the heart of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Str ...

without conducting any interviews to the media, following Barrie's 6-2 loss to the

Rimouski Océanic The Rimouski Océanic are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The franchise was granted for the 1969–70 season as the Sherbrooke Castors. The Castors played in Sherbrooke from 1969 to 1982 before moving to ...

in the

2000 Memorial Cup The 2000 Memorial Cup occurred May 20–28 at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the 82nd annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). It featured t ...

championship game. Following the controversial season in Barrie, Stewart continued his coaching career in Germany with and made headlines during the

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...

quarterfinals in 2001 when he was involved in a mass brawl in game three against the Berlin Capitals, during which he hit Capitals' head coach Pavel Gross in the head and himself was injured as well. Stewart was handed a two-game suspension and a DM 15,000 fine. In the finals against the München Barons, he feigned fainting behind the

Adler Mannheim The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern pa ...

bench to buy his star player

Jan Alston Jan Alston (born April 14, 1969) is a Canadian- Swiss ice hockey executive, coach and former professional ice hockey centre. He was granted Swiss citizenship in 2002. He became sport director at Swiss side Lausanne HC in 2011. Playing career ...

time to get his skates sharpened. His team ended up winning the championship that year and got to the finals the following season. Stewart left Mannheim in January 2003 after being informed that his contract would not be extended at the end of the season. After a short stint in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

, Stewart moved to Austria, where he coached the

Graz 99ers The Moser Medical Graz 99ers are an Austrian professional ice hockey team from Graz, Styria. The club was founded in 1999 after the previous club, EHC Graz, folded prior to the 1998–99 season due to financial difficulties. The Graz99ers start ...

and

EHC Linz The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are a member of the Austrian Hockey League. They play their home games in Linz, Austria at the Keine Sorgen EisArena. History The EHC Black Wings Linz was founded in 1992. After several years in the Austrian minor ...

. He left Linz in December 2006 to return to Germany with the

Hamburg Freezers The Hamburg Freezers were a German professional men's ice hockey club from Hamburg, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club announced its withdrawal from the DEL and ceased operations on 24 May 2016 when Anschutz Entertainment ...

. Linz challenged this transfer by seeking a restraining order, but lost the case. Stewart was sacked by the Freezers in December 2008. On December 3, 2009, he agreed to take over as the head coach of

Kölner Haie The Kölner Haie (English: ''Cologne Sharks'') are an ice hockey club based in Cologne, Germany that plays in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The team was one of the founding members of the DEL. The ''Kölner Haie'' play their hom ...

and was relieved of his duties in November 2011. He joined the

Guelph Storm The Guelph Storm are a major junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. They have played in the OHL since the 1991–92 season. The team plays home games at the Sleeman Centre. History The franchise started as the Toronto Marlb ...

during the 2011-12 season as a consultant prior to being named assistant coach in 2012-13. He took over as interim head coach of the team in January 2015. The term "interim" was then removed prior to the end of the season. He resigned from the Storm in December 2015 after only two wins and went back to Germany in January 2016 to coach

Dresdner Eislöwen The Dresdner Eislöwen are a professional ice hockey team based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season they played in the 2nd Bundesliga (ice hockey), 2nd ...

of the

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, u ...

. Stewart was appointed head coach of the DEL's

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,800 spectators. ...

in April 2017. Concerning his past, he stated at that time: "I have experienced a lot in Europe, have had great success, but have to admit that I have gone too far at times. These moments happened some years ago and, in the meantime, I have learned and become more quiet." He was sacked as Straubing head coach on October 18, 2017 after his team won only five of the first 13 games of the season and dropped to the very bottom of the DEL standings. On December 4, 2017, Stewart was named head of Adler Mannheim, returning for a second stint in charge at the club. His contract expired at the end of the 2017-18 season in which he guided the Adler team to an appearance in the playoff semifinals. He subsequently worked as a scout for the Adler organization.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

NHL Coaching statistics

NHL coaching statistics

Awards and achievements

* 1997–98 - Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award - Saint John Flames

Transactions

* October 30, 1980 - Traded by the Buffalo Sabres to the St. Louis Blues for

Bob Hess Robert George Hess (born May 19, 1955 in Middleton, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Hartford Whalers. Between 1982 and 19 ...

and a 4th round pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft (Anders Wikberg) * September 10, 1983 - Signed as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs * September 15, 1985 - Signed as a free agent by the Minnesota North Stars

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Bill 1957 births Living people Barrie Colts coaches Brunico SG players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Courmaosta HC players Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics HC Milano Saima players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Ontario Kitchener Rangers players Minnesota North Stars players Niagara Falls Flyers players New York Islanders coaches Olympic ice hockey players of Italy Rochester Americans players St. Catharines Black Hawks players St. Catharines Saints players St. Louis Blues players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (CHL) players Sportspeople from Toronto Springfield Indians players Toronto Maple Leafs players Val Gardena HC players Winnipeg Jets (WHA) draft picks