Reason to believe
For anyone not interested in reading the slightly tedious anecdote that led me to write this article I suggest you skip to paragraph two where the hockey talk begins.
Said story involves a copy of NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 (with updated rosters) which despite its release over 5 years ago is still an epic way to spend your time. Whilst playing the game I stumbled across the Great Britain U-20 squad, the star player of that squad and the only one playing outside of the UK was a center named Liam Stewart. Unaware of any Brits playing junior hockey I looked up the name and got confirmation through a number of articles about his performances for the Spokane Chiefs, I also got plenty about the fact he’s the son of Rod Stewart. Whilst that may make his story more interesting, the hockey is the more intriguing part.
In this past year with Spokane, Stewart was their fourth line center and amassed 14 goals and 26 points in 66 games whilst being plus 8. He had comes through as a member of the Los Angeles Kings’ junior team and development program and prior to signing with them had impressed the Chiefs at a prospects camp. A simplistic description of his game would be a guy who plays a responsible and hard working defensive game with a nose for the net as his offensive upside.
He was draft eligible this year and had a shout of going in the later rounds but unfortunately for him he was not selected. As we know though, it doesn’t mean the end of NHL ambitions for all undrafted guys and there are some big names on the list of players that have gone on to defy the scouts. I would say at this stage it is unlikely considering the fact he is playing fourth line hockey, but perhaps his perseverance will pay off. He will play at least another year with Spokane and be looking to play a bigger role to better his numbers so maybe he could attract some attention.
On to what he could mean to hockey in this country. Born in London but raised in California, he has expressed a desire to play for Great Britain should the opportunity arise, and he has been cleared to do so by the IIHF. Fair play to him for declaring in the first place as it would have been easy and understandable should he have chosen to distance himself. I’m not painting him as the future of British Ice Hockey by any means, but guys like Corey Neilson who came through the juniors in North America in the past have been hugely valuable assets to the GB team. Seeing Stewart in the jersey is unlikely in the immediate future whilst developing his game remains the immediate priority, it’ll become clearer just when that is after he moves out of the junior leagues.
If his pro career takes him over to Europe it makes it more of a possibility for obvious reasons due to the clashes in schedule between international and NHL/AHL.
Whether he goes on the play for Britain or not, his fortunes are worth tracking. You can follow Liam on twitter too and he’s good value (@LiamStewart11), giving an often funny insight into the junior game.