Bill Stewart

William Donald Stewart (born October 6, 1957) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional ice hockey defenceman and former coach. He played in the National Hockey League between 1977 and 1986, and then played in the Italian Serie A from 1986 to 1995. He later became a coach for the New York Islanders during the 1998–99 season. Internationally Stewart played for the Italian national team at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, and two World Championships. Playing career As a youth, Stewart played in the 1969 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from York Mills. A native of Toronto, Ontario, he was drafted in the fourth round (68th overall) in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres and started his National Hockey League career in 1977-78. He also went on to play for the St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Minnesota North Stars. 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 in 1995. After one season with Muskegon, Stewart took the head coaching position with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL in 1996. Stewart got back into coaching professional hockey the following season with a stint in the American Hockey League and coaching the Saint John Flames to the Calder Cup Finals in 1998, losing to the Philadelphia Phantoms in six games. Stewart was named head coach of the New York Islanders on January 21, 1999, after Mike Milbury 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 on April 30, 1999.