Nels Stewart

Nels Stewart
Nels Stewart in a Montreal Maroons uniform
Born	December 29, 1902(1902-12-29) Montreal, QC, CAN
Died	August 21, 1957(1957-08-21) (aged 54)
Height	6 ft 01 in (1.85 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Montreal Maroons Boston Bruins New York Americans
Playing career	1925–1940
Hall of Fame, 1962

Robert Nelson "Old Poison" Stewart (December 29, 1902 – August 21, 1957) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League. He is an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Playing career

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Stewart began play as an amateur at age 18 for the Cleveland Indians of the United States Amateur Hockey Association, leading the league in goals scored in four out of the five seasons he played before he and Babe Siebert were signed by the expansion Montreal Maroons of the NHL in 1925. Nicknamed "Old Poison," and with Siebert and veteran stars Clint Benedict, Punch Broadbent and Reg Noble, he would lead the Maroons to the Stanley Cup championship that season. Stewart himself led the league in goal- and point-scoring that year, and become one of the few rookies in history to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player.

Stewart would later centre the legendary "S Line", with Hooley Smith and Siebert, and star for the Maroons for seven seasons in all, winning a second Hart Trophy in 1930, having led the league once more with 39 goals in 44 games. As the Great Depression deepened, though, the Maroons had increasing financial problems — eventually folding in 1938 — and sold Stewart to the Boston Bruins for cash. His glittering play continued for the Bruins, finishing second in team scoring each of his three full seasons with the team, despite being moved back to defence a fair bit.

In 1935 he was traded to the New York Americans, for whom he played for most of his final five seasons in the league. Stewart starred through his penultimate season (in which he was fourth on the Amerks in scoring) with 35 points in 46 games at age 36. The season following, in 1939, his foot speed (never regarded as fast) deserted him entirely. He retired thereafter as the NHL's career leading goal scorer, a mark he set in the 1937 season and held until Maurice Richard broke it in 1952.

On August 21, 1957, he was found dead at his summer home near Toronto, apparently of natural causes, possibly a heart attack.

Nels was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1998, he was ranked number 51 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Career achievements and facts

• Won the Hart Trophy in 1926 and 1930.
• Played in the first NHL All-Star Game in 1934.
• Led the playoffs in scoring in 1926 with six goals, three assists and nine points in eight games.
• Led the league in penalty minutes in 1927 with 133.
• Holds the NHL record for fastest two goals (four seconds apart) set on January 3, 1931, against the Boston Bruins (matched by Deron Quint in 1995–96)

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1925–26	Montreal Maroons	NHL		36	34	8	42	119		8	6	3	9	—
1926–27	Montreal Maroons	NHL		43	17	4	21	133		2	0	0	0	4
1927–28	Montreal Maroons	NHL		42	27	7	34	104		9	2	2	4	13
1928–29	Montreal Maroons	NHL		44	21	8	29	74		—	—	—	—	—
1929–30	Montreal Maroons	NHL		44	39	15	55	81		4	1	1	2	2
1930–31	Montreal Maroons	NHL		43	25	14	39	75		2	1	0	1	6
1931–32	Montreal Maroons	NHL		38	22	11	33	61		4	0	1	1	2
1932–33	Boston Bruins	NHL		47	18	18	36	62		5	2	0	2	4
1933–34	Boston Bruins	NHL		48	22	17	39	68		—	—	—	—	—
1934–35	Boston Bruins	NHL		47	21	18	39	45		4	0	1	1	0
1935–36	New York Americans	NHL		48	14	15	29	16		5	1	2	3	4
1936–37	Boston Bruins	NHL		10	3	2	5	6		—	—	—	—	—
1936–37	New York Americans	NHL		33	20	10	30	31		—	—	—	—	—
1937–38	New York Americans	NHL		48	19	17	36	29		6	2	3	5	2
1938–39	New York Americans	NHL		46	16	19	35	33		2	0	0	0	0
1939–40	New York Americans	NHL		35	6	7	13	6		3	0	0	0	0
NHL totals				652	324	191	515	943		46	9	10	19	37

External links

• Nels Stewart's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Nels Stewart's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dunc Munro	Montreal Maroons captain 1928–32	Succeeded by Hooley Smith
Awards
Preceded by Billy Burch	Winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy 1926	Succeeded by Herb Gardiner
Preceded by Roy Worters	Winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy 1930	Succeeded by Howie Morenz
Preceded by Babe Dye	NHL Scoring Champion 1926	Succeeded by Bill Cook

Persondata
Name	Stewart, Nels
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 29, 1902
Place of birth	Montréal, Québec
Date of death	August 21, 1957
Place of death