His style of play routinely resulted in injuries and scars; he defied expectations by returning to the game after suffering a ruptured disc in his back and later a fractured skull.

[4] Partway through his second season with the Hornets, the Red Wings recalled Stewart as part of a bid to shake up their team which had been struggling.

[6] Stewart and the Red Wings reached the Stanley Cup Finals in both 1941 and 1942, but lost to the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively.

[6] He won his second Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 1950 as they defeated the New York Rangers in double overtime of the deciding seventh game.

[10] Following the championship, the Red Wings dealt Stewart to the Chicago Black Hawks as part of a nine-player trade that was, at the time, the largest in NHL history.

[3] Stewart missed the majority of the 1950–51 NHL season and his career was believed over after he suffered a serious spinal injury in a December 14, 1950, game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[14] Instead, Stewart had the disc removed and after completing what Black Hawks' team doctors described as a "most remarkable" recovery, he opted to continue his career and signed with Chicago for the 1951–52 season.

[15] Early in the season, Stewart suffered a minor skull fracture after colliding with teammate Clare Martin, an injury that forced him out of the lineup for several weeks.

[17] However, by mid February 1952, his injuries led Stewart to ask the Black Hawks for his release so that he could seek a minor league coaching position.

[22] One year later, Stewart moved to the Pittsburgh Hornets, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

[14] He led the league with 73 penalty minutes in 1945–46,[6] and in the late 1940s, his rivalry with Milt Schmidt of the Boston Bruins was so intense that their physical interactions occasionally overshadowed the games themselves.

Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman King Clancy agreed he was not dirty, but stated he was the "roughest son of a gun you'd ever want to meet.

"[13] Stewart's style of play resulted in numerous injuries; he had dozens of scars and required over 200 stitches to close various cuts during his career.

[2] His coach in Detroit, Jack Adams, called Stewart "one of the best blueliners in the game",[2] and claimed he was the best defenceman in Red Wings history.

[14] Stewart's father built a track on the family farm and held a horse racing meet each year to entertain the residents of Pilot Mound.