BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Chris Stewart (born October 30, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stewart is the younger brother of Anthony Stewart, who currently plays for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Early years
Stewart was the second of seven children—he has five younger sisters—born to his mother, Sue, and his father, Norman, who came from a combined Jamaican and Irish background.[1][2] Stewart grew up quite poor but he still loved to play hockey and was noted for his tenacity even before reaching his full size.[3] He and Anthony played with the North York Jr. Canadiens, and thanks to a representative of the team, his hockey was paid for entirely. He also liked football, and seriously considered playing it throughout his high school years at West Hill Collegiate Institute.[4] Growing up, Stewart became friends with fellow Toronto native hockey player, Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers, and they return to Toronto as house-mates during the off-season.[5]
Playing career
Kingston Frontenacs
Prior to the 2004-05, Stewart's older brother Anthony Stewart, who was the captain of the Kingston Frontenacs, put his reputation on the line when he asked Frontenacs general manager Larry Mavety to give Stewart the chance to try out with the Frontenacs as an undrafted free agent. Mavety complied, and Stewart made the team in training camp, allowing the brothers to play together on the same team.[4]Initially given the position with the Frontenacs as an energetic fighting role player, Stewart took advantage of his increased playing time, and had a solid rookie season, scoring 18 goals and 30 points in 64 games.[6] Stewart played in his first OHL game on September 26, 2004, getting no points in a 4-3 loss to the Brampton Battalion. Stewart scored his first goal in the league on October 3, 2004, beating Sudbury Wolves goaltender Patrick Ehelechner in a 6-4 loss. The Frontenacs failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
In 2005-06, Stewart had a breakout season, as he was named as an assistant captain, while scoring 37 goals and 87 points in 62 games to finish second in team scoring, helping Kingston to a playoff berth. In six playoff games, Stewart had two goals, as the Frontenacs lost to the Sudbury Wolves in the first round of the playoffs.
That summer, Stewart was drafted 18th overall in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche.
On October 13, 2006, the Frontenacs revealed Stewart as the new captain of the team for the 2006-07 season at the Kingston Memorial Centre before a game against the Guelph Storm. Stewart had another solid season with Kingston, as he had 36 goals and 82 points in 61 games, finishing second in team scoring once again. In the post-season, Stewart had four goals and six points in five games, as the Frontenacs lost to the Oshawa Generals in the opening round of the playoffs.
Colorado Avalanche
Stewart made his professional debut with the Albany River Rats of the AHL at the end of the 2006-07 season. He played his first game with the team on April 4, 2007, getting no points in a 3-2 loss to the Springfield Falcons. Stewart recorded his first point, an assist, on April 6, 2007, as Albany defeated the Binghamton Senators 7-3. He then scored his first professional goal on April 14, 2007, as Stewart scored onCorey Crawford of the Norfolk Admirals in a 6-5 loss. In the playoffs, Stewart appeared in one game, getting no points, as the River Rats lost to the Hershey Bears in the first round.
In 2007-08, the Avalanche moved their AHL affiliate to Cleveland, Ohio, and renamed the team to the Lake Erie Monsters. Stewart spent the entire season with Lake Erie, scoring a team high 25 goals, while finishing third in points with 44, however, Lake Erie missed the playoffs. Stewart recorded a hat trick on November 17, 2007, scoring three times on Toronto Marlies goaltender Justin Pogge in a 5-3 Monsters victory.
Stewart began the 2008-09 season with the Monsters, appearing in 19 games, scoring five goals and 11 points. He was then called up to theColorado Avalanche of the NHL on December 5, 2008.
He played in his first NHL game that night, getting no points and a -1 rating in 7:29 ice time in the Avalanche's 2-1 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars.[7][8] On December 9, 2008, Stewart scored his first career NHL goal, a shorthanded goal against Jason Labarbera of the Los Angeles Kings, and added an assist in a 6-1 victory.[9] On January 21, 2009, he earned his first ever Gordie Howe hat trick, which is a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game in a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Stewart finished the 2008-09 season with 11 goals and 19 points in 53 games with Colorado, however, the team did not qualify for the playoffs.
Stewart saw very little time with Lake Erie in 2009–10, appearing in just two games with the Monsters, getting no points. He spent the majority of the season with the Avalanche, and on December 2, 2009, Stewart had another Gordie Howe hat trick, while recording his first three point game in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers. On March 6, 2010, Stewart recorded his first career hat trick against the St. Louis Blues in a 7-3 win, scoring two goals against Chris Mason, followed by a penalty shot goal against Ty Conklin, while adding an assist to finish with a career high four points in a game. He finished the season leading the Avalanche with 28 goals, while finishing second in team scoring with 64 points, helping the club into the playoffs. Stewart played in his first NHL playoff game on April 14, 2010, scoring a goal with 50 seconds left in the game against Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharksin a 2-1 Colorado win. Stewart finished the playoffs with three goals in six games, as the Avalanche lost to the Sharks in the first round of post-season.
In the off-season, Stewart signed a two-year contract with the Avalanche,[10] and began the 2010–11 season with Colorado, and on October 28, 2010, he earned his second career hat trick in a 6-5 Avalanche win over the Calgary Flames, scoring all three goals against Henrik Karlsson. On February 19, 2011, the Avalanche traded Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirkand the Avalanche's second round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft to the St. Louis Blues for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and the Blues first round draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[11] He finished with 13 goals and 30 points in 36 games with Colorado.
St. Louis Blues
Stewart finished the 2010–11 season with the St. Louis Blues and made an immediate impact in his debut with the team on February 19, 2011, scoring two goals against Timo Pielmeier in a 9-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.[12] He finished with 15 goals and 23 points in 26 games with the Blues, however, they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
During the following 2011–12 season, Stewart struggled to reproduce his scoring prowess for the Blues. Unable to adjust to the defensive tactics of renowned coach Ken Hitchcock, he was increasingly subject to trade rumours whilst used in a diminished checking role and relegated as an healthy scratch during parts of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.[13] Stewart finished with 15 goals and 30 points in 79 games before he opted to re-sign to a one-year deal in hopes to rebound with the Blues.[14]
With the commencement of the 2012–13 NHL lockout Stewart signed a one month contract, alongside Wayne Simmonds, to play with the Eispiraten Crimmitschau of the 2nd Bundesliga in Germany on September 24, 2012.[15] Becoming the most established NHL players in ETC Crimmitschau history, Stewart scored 5 goals and 11 points in 9 games before he and Simmonds declined to extend their optional stint.[16] Whilst opting to remain in Europe alongside Simmonds, he signed to another lockout out contract in the more competitive Czech Extraliga with HC Bili Tygri Liberec on October 23, 2012.[17] With the intention of playing alongside Simmonds and Petr Nedved failing to materialise, and after 5 unfruitful games with Liberec, Stewart decided to return to Crimmitschau for the remainder of the lockout on November 13, 2012.[18][19] Just under a month later, with new found optimism of the lockout end in sight and advice to prevent injury, Stewart was released on his request from the remainder of his contract on December 7, 2012. He returned to North America having scored 20 points in just 15 games for the Pirates.[20]
He was named First Star of the Week on December 23, 2013, for his performance in the week ending December 22, after earning six goals and one assist. He beat out Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) #2, and Matt Duchene (Colorado), #3.[21]
Buffalo Sabres
The Blues traded Stewart on February 28, 2014 along with Jaroslav Halak, William Carrier, a first-round draft pick in 2015, and a conditional draft pick in 2016, to the Buffalo Sabresin exchange for Ryan Miller and Steve Ott.[22]
International career
Stewart played with Canada at the 2011 IIHF World Championship held in Slovakia, where in seven games, he recorded two goals and four points. Canada struggled in the tournament, and finished in fifth place.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2004–05 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 64 | 18 | 12 | 30 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 62 | 37 | 50 | 87 | 118 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | ||
| 2006–07 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL | 61 | 36 | 46 | 82 | 108 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 2006–07 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | Lake Erie Monsters | AHL | 77 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Lake Erie Monsters | AHL | 19 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 53 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 77 | 28 | 36 | 64 | 73 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2009–10 | Lake Erie Monsters | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 36 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 26 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 79 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 109 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 2012–13 | Eispiraten Crimmitschau | 2.GBun | 15 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | HC Bili Tygri Liberec | CZE | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 48 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 40 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 58 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 112 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 382 | 115 | 113 | 228 | 447 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 16 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Canada | WC | 5th | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
| Senior totals | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0                                                                                                                        | ||||
No comments:
Post a Comment