--__The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 10, 1995 - 3


Stewart
Former Michigan hockey standout
talks about his career

RACHEL BACHMAN
Bach's Score

Cam Stewart played right wing for
Michigan's hockey teamfrom 1990-93.
Although his scoring statistics don't
equal those of a Denny Felsner or a
Mike Knuble, Stewart is one of the
toughest and hardest-hitting skaters to
have played for the Wolverines.
The 5'11", 195-pound Stewart was
drafted by the Boston Bruins in the 3rd
round (63rd overall) in 1990, just
months prior to attending Michigan.
He decided to hold off on aprofessional
career and opted for the tutelage of
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
Afterhis three years asa Wolverine,
Stewart will be remembered for his
agressiveness rather than his scoring,
even though henetted20goals in 1992-
93.As a result of his rugged play, he
amassed 297 penalty minutes in his
career, which places him fifth all-time
onbthe Michigan list. In 1990-91, as a
freshman, his 56penaltiesare thethird-
highest single-season total in team his-
tory and the 122 minutes that resulted
from those penalties, are sixth-best.
Stewart left Michigan after his jun-
igrseason to pursue his career with the
Bruins. Despite being hampered with a
brkenfingerfor more than half of his
ropieseason, Stewartstill managed to
see action in 57games where he totaled
3 goals and 6 assists and racked up 66
minutes in penalties.
This season, Stewart is playing for
theBruins'minorleagueteam inProvi-
* den. He has collected 12 goals and 11
assists in 29gamesalong with anAmeri-
can Hockey League Player of the Week
honorto his credit.With the injury ofhis
rookie season behind him, Stewart is
working his way back to the NHL.
Recently, Daily Sports Writer Alan
Goldenbachspoke withStewartabouthe
transition from college to professional
hockey, his playing days at Michigan and
the current Wolverine hockey team.
Daily: What didyou see as the most
difficult transition to make from the
collegiate to the professional ranks?
Stewart: I think it's just finding a
knack of whereyou fit in on ateam. You
hayvto use your attributes and know
whakindofaplayeryouare beforeyou
come to the pros. You have to know
what got you there, also. As long as you
use all of those together and figure out
where you fit in on a team, I think that's
probably the hardest part.
D: You were drafted by the Bruins
before coming to Michigan. Was there
ever any temptation turn pro straight
out of high school?
S: Definitely not. TheBruinsdrafted
me knowing that I was going to Michi-
gan and knew that I would be under
coach Berenson and be in a good pro-
gram and develop as a player.
D: What specifically did the Bruins
think that you would get out of the
program at Michigan?
S: I think just maturing as a player the
whole package. They knew I was going to
get stronger because I was a young player,
just to work on everything.
D: So maybe you could tell from
experience that spending time at aqual-
itycollege program would be better
thanjumpingrightintotheminorleagues
in preparing you as a professional

player?
S: Iwouldthinkso.Idon't thinkthat
jumping into the minor leagues is the
best thing for a young kid. But then
again, it has worked well for different
people.
D: If an NHL team were scouting
you and asked what you would bring to
the team, what would you say?
S: I bring physical play. I consider
myself an above average hitter. In col-
lege and now I'm doing it, although last
year I didn't really, but I can put the
puck in the net and make plays.
D: When you were at Michigan,

the fact that I hit a lot and he was a
physical player. I was scoring in college
so they thought that I could come in
there and right away do it.
I think last year forme, I was thrown
into a fire and I don't think that was the
best thing for Cam Stewart. I had an-
other year of college left. I think I could
have used another year of college. It
wasn't until my junior year that every-
thing started to come together for me.
Then everything came so fast and I got
thrown right in.
Being in the minors right now, I
know that now I'm getting my confi-

out of a little farm town and that was a
job in itself. But he did a good job, and
he's still like a dad to me.
D: Do you think that there's more
cohesion among the players on a col-
lege team than on a professional team?
S: Definitely. It's no longer really a
game. It's a business and whatever the
owners can do to win and make money
they're going to do whether you're in
their plans or not. Honestly, you just
want to make as much money as you
can while you still have it and then you
have to think about what you're going
to do with your life. For guys like us, we
have an education to fall back on.
D: How have players that you have
played with, like Mike Knuble, pro-
gressed since you were at Michigan?
S: Obviously, Knuble has turned
into a premier player. He had eight
goals his freshman yearandhestruggled.
He worked really hard and now he's got
it all. He's big, he can play physical and
he's a top-notch goal scorer. And I hope
that he's gets as much money as he can.
D: Were there any other players on
the team this year that impressed you?
S: I practiced with them for two
weeks earlier this year and I think they
have an unbelievably talented team. I
was impressed with (Marty) Turco and
he proved that to me again against
Maine. I definitely compare (Brendan)
Morrison to Wiseman and Wiseman is
probably the best player that I'veplayed
with, and I'd put Morrison right up
there with him.
D: Afterplaying with the Bruins for
most of last year, is playing in the
minors now very difficult?
S: Actually, it's what I want right
now. I've talked it over with the Bruins
and they just want me to get as much ice
time as I can right now. I broke my
finger last year and I was playing 30
games with the thing swelling up. So in
my mind, I thought that maybe the only
thing that I can do was hit.
(The injury) limited everything; my
stickhandling, my confidence. And now I
come down here (Providence) and I've
got23pointsin29gamesand 12goalsand
that'sjust inthe lastcoupleof weeks. Now
I know I can play. I've talked to them and
I'm sure I'll be up there.
D: When you were playing in Bos-
ton, was it strange playing with some or
your CCHA rivals from your days with
Michigan-likeBryan Smolinski from
Michigan State?
S: Definitely. They didn't like me
and I didn't like them. But "Smoke"
(Smolinski) and I lived together last
year and we've become very close.

Here it is, sports
fans: the final Score
T he answer is yes.
have been inside The Locker Room. Actually, I've been in a few
- the Michigan men's basketball team's among them. Even though
the experience is a small part of being a sportswriter, The Locker Room
Question comes up more often than those about the Fab Five's personal
lives (no, I never tossed back Molson Ices with Jimmy and Ray).
Maybe people ask because, as Saturday Night Live's Chris Farley
punctuates, I'm not "the norm," or because I sometimes wear a "skirt," or
maybe because I don't have "external plumbing." Maybe it's because, in
this day and age, female sportswriters are still novelties.
The first woman on the Daily sports staff was Robin Wright, now a
global affairs correspondent for the L.A. Times. She covered the football
team in 1969, Bo Schembechler's first year as head coach. At the 1910
Rose Bowl, she was escorted out of the press box by two sheriff's deputies
because of her gender. Luckily, she had an idea.
Wolverine tight end Jim Mandich (later of the Miami Dolphins) had
told her that Schembechler had had a heart attack earlier that morning; she
was the only one in the press corps who knew. So she told her male
colleagues that she had the best story of the day, which she would share if
they persuaded officials to let her back in. They did. Once she was inside,
an attendant threw a locker room pass at her, saying, "This is what you
were really after, weren't you?"
Says Wright: "To this day, I've never been in a locker room."
Today is different. Women are now admitted inside The Locker Room. At
the door, we are greeted by a smiling woman with a clipboard, a guy who
shakes your hand, a doctor and a bartender and ... wait, that's the Love Boat.
So, what's it really like to venture into The Locker Room? Imagine
giving a presentation, on which your entire course grade depends, to a
room full of professors - all of them in the buff.
Pretty titillating, huh?
For some reason, female reporters entering men's locker rooms is
painted as a voyeuristic or sexual experience. That picture couldn't be more
inaccurate. I mean, have you ever seen an offensive lineman naked?
Neither have I, but I think you get my point. Locker rooms are smelly, hot,
crowded and often intimidating. If I could get the same story without going
inside one, I would.
Leba Hertz, who covered football for the Daily in 1975, didn't go into
locker rooms during her tenure. Back then, she says, equal access to
athletes "was unheard of." Press boxes weren't much more welcoming:
Around that time, passes that read, "Members of the working press only.
No women, children, or dogs," were not uncommon.
Can you believe the callousness? What's a young, upstart cocker
spaniel to do?
The sexism of the past still exists; it is, like other "isms," just more
covert. Twenty-five years ago, Ann Arbor News editors told Wright they
didn't want a woman covering sports. She ended up writing bridal
announcements for the women's page. Now, I hear of my opposition
through the grapevine, political correctness having reduced the boisterous
bigots to backroom whisperers. Still, I know who they are.
But despite being mistaken for a groupie in the football press box,
despite hearing of an Ohio State Lantern sportswriter's surprise ("They
have a girl?") that I was covering the Ohio State-Michigan game, despite
receiving accusing stares when a coach decided to close a locker room to
the media, I love this job.
I love it because I have the privilege of chronicling sport, the most
exuberant and captivating of institutions. I've gotten to show readers a
rower's excruciating tug of the oar, the practiced slouch of a basketball
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were there any players or coaches who
had a significant influence on you?
S: I'd have to say Dave Harlock. Just
by being a leader and teaching me things
not so much on the ice, but off the ice and
the whole atmosphere of college. He just
sort of took me under his wing.
D: Do you feel that you have brought
to the pros what he taught you?
S: I think he's taught me different
things about life. You have to bring
those things with you when you be-
come a professional.
D: Is there a player that you model
yourself or your style of play after?
S: Not really. When I was in col-
lege, the big thing that I would do was
watch players and watch what they do.
I'd watch (David) Oliver shoot the puck.
I'd watch Wise (Brian Wiseman) handle
the puck. I'd take little things from
different people.
D: When you came to Boston, there
were comparisons of you to Bruins'
superstar Cam Neely. Were those com-
parisons warranted or was it just the
name? How did you react to those com-
parisons?
S:I think it was the whole thing and

dence and that I can play in the NHL.
D: What are your best memories of
playing at Michigan?
S: My best memories are of all the
guys. I can say that I have so many best
friends from college. That's the biggest
thing for me.
Definitely going to the Final Four,
although we never came out victorious.
In growing as a person, I think the
biggest thing for me was being under
Red Berenson as a coach. He was like a
father and he brought me along because
I was a little rambunctious kid coming

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