Coach Stewart joins Hall of Fame
Belfast Giants Legendary defenseman and current Assistant Coach Rob Stewart has been inducted into the UK Ice Hockey Journalists Hall of Fame.
Rob started in the UK back in 1990. In his first full season with the Romford Raiders, he scored 96 points (35 goals) in only 40 games. In 4 seasons in Romford he scored 404 points, including 161 goals. During a time when teams were limited to 3 imports, Stewart was a legitimate superstar in British Ice Hockey.
After moving to Telford from Romford for 1 season, Stewart made the move to Bracknell where after his first season with the Bees, the team became one of the founding members of the Ice Hockey Superleague (ISL). Import levels were raised, salaries increased but despite the influx of North American talent coming to the UK, Stewart remained as one of the top defenseman in the ISL.
Stewart has the distinction of never missing a single game in the 7-year history of the Superleague. Along the way, him and good friend Dave Whistle led the Bees to their first and only ISL League Title in 2000.
Stewart was selected as an ISL All-Star twice during his time in Bracknell and was part of the ‘Bracknell Seven’ who followed Head Coach Dave Whistle to Belfast after winning the league in Bracknell in 2000.
Shane Johnson, Todd Kelman, Colin Ward, Paxton Schulte, Kevin Riehl and Todd Goodwin all joined Stewart in Belfast to play for Dave Whistle.
According to Todd Kelman, Stewart was the person that engineered the move for him from Bracknell to Belfast.
“I remember getting a call from Stewy and he explained that Whistle wasn’t allowed to recruit all of us from Bracknell, something about an agreement with the league.
But since we were all out of contract, he ‘suggested’ that I should call Whis and explain my desire to play for the Giants, which is exactly what I did. Colin Ward was visiting with me in Calgary at the time, so I told him to do the same thing. “
In Belfast, Stewart again took up the role as player/assistant coach under Dave Whistle and as a coaching duo; they led the Giants to the ISL League Title in only the 2nd season of the Giants existence in 2002.
That season, Stewart was voted to the ISL First All-Star Team, his 3rd ISL All-Star Selection of his career. The following season, Stewart again starred for the Giants as they won their first Playoff Championship in the final season of the Ice Hockey Superleague.
The following year, Stewart took over the Giants as Coach, although he ended up as a player/coach for most of the 2003/04 season. Despite fulfilling his end of the bargain with management to ‘save money and finish in the top 4’ – Stewart was let go at the end of the season.
He ended up coaching in Sheffield the following year, but once again he found himself out of the Elite League coaching circles midway through the 2004/05 season.
During an injury spell in 2005/06, Todd Kelman approached Ed Courtenay about getting Stewart to play a few games for injury cover.
“We were struggling for defensemen and Stewy had been skating with us the entire summer and looked in as good as shape as he had ever been. I think Shane Johnson and Jason Bowen were both hurt at the time and Ed gave Stewy a shot for a comeback, which he took hold of and ended up staying the whole year.
Indeed, Stewart made a triumphant return to the Giants in 2005/06, remarkably almost 18 months after playing full time in the Elite League. In his first game back at the Odyssey Arena, he scored a goal and added 2 assists, much to the delight of the Giants Fans who have always embraced the mild-mannered Stewart with open arms.
That season, Stewart won another League Title, this time the Elite League Championship, the 2nd league title in Giants history.
He moved back to play and coach with the Romford Raiders in 2006/07 before eventually returning to the Giants as an Assistant Coach when Steve Thornton took over for the 2008/09 season.
As part of the coaching staff, Stewart has won another 4 Championships, the Knock Out Cup and Challenge Cup in 2009, the Playoff Championship in 2010 and most recently the Elite League Championship in 2012.
Stewart continues to be a loyal servant to the team and franchise he helped build back in 2000. He has also ensured the future of ice hockey is bright in Northern Ireland as the head coach of the Junior Giants Development Programme.
In the 12 seasons of their existence, the Belfast Giants have won 7 Championships and Rob Stewart has been part of every single one of them, 3 as a player and 4 as a coach.
He enters the Hall of Fame as a legend in British Ice Hockey, but his true legendary status in Belfast continues to grow.
On behalf of everyone at the Belfast Giants and all of the fans he has entertained over the years, we congratulate Rob Stewart on his induction into the Ice Hockey Journalists Hall of Fame.