Ben Stewart was born without most of his right arm, and yet, it hasn’t stopped Northland’s rising hockey star from playing the game he loves, and perhaps more importantly, thriving in it.
The thing about the missing arm is that Stewart has never seen it as a roadblock to anything he has done in life, including playing hockey.
“I never really thought of it as something that was going to hold me back,” Stewart said. “It was just another reason to get better.”
It’s fair to say the approach has worked for Stewart, who is the leading scorer for the Lumberjacks, punching in three goals and dishing out six assists.
He came to Northland from Ohio, where he won a state championship in 2021, and knew coming in that he’d have a shot to play right away.
“Going in I knew if I came in hot, I could earn a spot and I’ve been able to do that and keep a good lineup spot going,” Stewart said. “The results haven’t been coming team wise, but it’s been a really good first year as a player.”
It was never necessarily a challenge for Stewart to play the fast-paced game of hockey with just one arm. It wasn’t viewed as a handicap, but rather just something that was a normal part of life for him.
“I was born without, so everything growing up, it’s all I knew,” Stewart said. “Once I figured out what worked, we did that until we found something that worked better. I’ve always found more and more ways to make it work.”
It took time at the beginning to find what worked best as far as using the hockey stick went.
“It was initially about finding how everything was going to work. To get to a point where I had a good foundation to build off of,” Stewart said.
When he was on the ice as a child, it was next to impossible to get him off it.
Then again, hockey is kind of in his DNA.
“I had two older brothers and a dad that played. I was born into it,” Stewart said. “My parents always joke that I learned to skate before I learned to walk fully.”
Stewart isn’t just a hockey player either. He played baseball and soccer growing up as well. He also golfs. In fact, he was on the golf team at Northland in the fall.
“I golf with my buddies back home, and when I got up to school, I was playing with some guys who were on the team, and they said I should try out,” Stewart said. “I showed up the next day and I was on the team. It was a great experience. I hope to do it again next year.”
As far as hockey goes, he said the transition to the college level was relatively smooth, noting the biggest adjustment was ‘probably the speed of the game.’
“Especially in the WIAC. It’s a fast game. You have to make decisions even faster,” Stewart said. “It’s always good to know what is happening now so you don’t have to think about that when you get the puck. You can just make plays.”
Northland ended the first half of the season at 1-14, including an 0-7 mark in the WIAC.
Stewart intends to continue to work hard at his game and is hopeful the Lumberjacks can have a strong second half.
“I just want to work on my all-around game and help the team get a few more wins,” Stewart said. “I plan to work hard over the summer, too, to get ready for next season.”
