I used to think and believe that officials are there to keep it fair and safe. Due to the Covid issues, in almost all manner, shape and form, there are those in officiating that either physically can't keep pace or their own failure to gain positioning leaves them guessing on decisions that cause some teams to win and others to lose. I get that there are many reasons for the decline in numbers, including abusive parents and fans.
At other times, officials take actions they believed to be the right decision in the moment. Others may have differing opinions but weren't on the ice and do not know all the details. For example, that 10-minute misconduct "for nothing" may have come after a warning was issued that "the next guy who takes a extra pop behind the play is getting 10". Someone elected to mess around anyway and found out the ref wasn't joking. Too bad, so sad.
In general, though, I am very concerned about where the state of officiating is. We are at rock bottom. Additionally, many critics are all too willing to mouth off but few are willing and able to aid in solutions.
There are many reasons why a person decides to become an official. My reasons include the examples that my dad and grandfather showed me and the world after both of their lengthy hockey officiating careers. Both reffed hockey. My Dad at the High School and at the NCAA level with as many as 20 Beanpot games on his resume. My grandfather, refereed in the NHL, worked five Stanley Cup Finals including the longest game ever played in the NHL. He also worked AHL games and College Hockey, all at the same time. In those days you got paid only per game. Oh, by the way, Grampy umpired 22 years in the National League, four World Series and four MLB All-Star Games. Both men loved to officiate, as did I. It's a family tradition.
Their messages passed down to me was always to leave your emotions in the dressing room. Leave your personal life behind in the dressing room. Bleach your mind and feel the game as you take the temperature of the players. It's a game for the fans who paid to get in. On the ice, it's sometimes tougher to contain your emotions. I wasn't perfect at it, as either as a player or a referee. But there was NOT a carryover. Every game, sure as it's a fresh new sheet of ice, is a fresh start and a new obligation to prove yourself.
Here are three recent stories about officiating: one from the NHL, and two from other levels.
1. The Tortorella Incident: Reasonable Doubt at Work
During the first period of Saturday's game in Tampa Bay between the Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa got out to a quick 4-0 lead after two five-on-five goals and two power play goals in the opening 10:49. That's when all hell broke loose.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella took major issue with two penalties called by young referee Brandon Schrader. After a couple years of officiating at lower levels, Schrader attended the NHL Officiating Combine in the summer of 2017 and was hired. He debuted in the American Hockey League in 2017 and worked in the regular season and Calder Cup playoffs in 2017-18.
The next season, Schrader made his NHL debut on March 1, 2019, in a game at the Prudential Center between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia. Entering the 2023-24 season, Schrader was still working to find his footing at the top level: 107 games as a referee, 10 games as a linesman.
From an officiating development standpoint, this is still a VERY young and inexperienced referee. Because of the numbers problem, there is too much fast-tracking of officials (particularly former players) and not enough teaching prospects HOW to be a referee or linesman. There are a lot more mistakes -- of positioning especially, but also of judgment -- born of inexperience.
Schrader's second penalty call on Saturday -- a tripping minor on Philadelphia defenseman Ronnie Attard -- was most likely a call he'd have liked to have back after he saw the replay. But once the arm went up, it wasn't going to go back down. The referee compounded it by nervously getting on the ice mic and announcing the penalty was on number 23 on Tampa Bay (Michael Eyssimont) rather than number 23 on Philadelphia (Attard).
I didn't see the game live. But even if I had, I wouldn't have needed a crystal ball to predict that Mr. Schrader was going to catch an earful: no doubt, from the Philadelphia bench, but also probably from the game supervisor. Calling a marginal penalty, announcing it on a member of the wrong team (causing further confusion) and then having to correct it on the mic is a nightmarish scenario.
When Tampa took a 4-0 lead on the ensuing power play, it didn't take Nostradamus to predict what would happen next: Flyers head coach John Tortorella went ballistic at the Philadelphia bench. Veteran ref Wes McCauley then stepped in to protect his young partner ref. Tortella received a bench minor and it became a game misconduct.
OK, I'm going to stop the analysis here for a minute. In the interest of full disclosure, I consider Wes a good friend of mine. His dad, the late John McCauley, was one of my greatest mentors and advocates when he was the chief of officiating in the NHL. I named my older son, McCauley John Stewart, in fond memory of Wes' dad. Wes has a different personality than John's -- his style is more like mine, to be honest -- but became one of the absolute best referees in the NHL. Wes and I have sometimes laughed that our own respective late fathers look down at us from up above and sometimes shake their head at what their rambunctious sons have gotten into this time, but also with love and pride.
Also in the interest of full disclosure, I like and respect Torts. When I was still an active NHL referee, I dealt with Tortorella. I liked him off the ice and, to this day, respect him as a coach. Most of my officiating brethren -- both active and retired -- who have worked Torts' teams' games agree with me. Yes, he is emotional and hot-tempered. Yes, he can push your buttons and test how much you'll push back. No, he doesn't hold back if he's unhappy. But it's never personal. And once he says his piece, it's over and done.
He's not one to hold grudges with officials or bring up past disagreements. That is showing respect, and he gets the same respect in return.
But nobody is perfect. I'm not perfect. John isn't perfect, nor is Wes. As far as my own dealings with John, they've been fine. Any on-ice friction was gone the next time we'd see one another. When in a bad mood, though, Tortorella can take it out by being a bully to the media and to team employees including trainers and PR staff before he cools down about whatever set him off about a game (which is not the other people's fault). That's a flaw, not a praiseworthy trait but the overall human being is a good person. Wes, meanwhile, is also a great guy but also has a bit of a temper (again, I'll plead guilty to this myself).
OK, let's get back to Saturday's game. Tortorella flat out refused to leave the bench area to return to the locker room after receiving the game misconduct. He wanted Schrader or McCauley to skate over to the bench and verbally duke it out. Wes wouldn't do it.
Now, I don't know what was said beforehand. I wasn't privy to it, and it ultimately doesn't matter. In McCauley's skates, I'd have probably stepped in, too, to stand up for my younger teammate (same as I would haven when I played, minus the fisticuffs). I gave out very few bench minors in my career, but there's a limit. Wes felt it was justified to penalize and then eject Tortorella. That's his prerogative. I'm not going to call it an "overreaction" or the right decision. I do trust McCauley's judgement in general, but I don't know the specifics and I do know that no one is right all the time.
I'll let you folks in on a little secret, though: Officiating teams talk and argue amongst themselves in the sanctity of the locker room just as much as players on the same team. To the outside world, you have to be a united front because you'll damn sure hang separately if you don't hang together. Inside the room, though, heated discussions and disagreements are part of the dynamic sometimes. In fact, a couple of private arguments had with fellow officials were as nose-to-nose and fraught as any I had with certain players or coaches.
If I were refereeing alongside a struggling young official -- or when I was the supervisor -- I'd never hesitate to critique something that I felt needed correction or improvement. After that, you don't let in linger but you also don't forget. I always laugh when people say, "There's no accountability for officials."
When someone says this, they might mean well, but it is such a blatant tell that the person has never officiated a thing in his life. Officials can get written up, fined, lose playoff assignments (which you feel in both the wallet and in the heart) straight up to not being brought back for future seasons. Yes, there's an officials association. No, there isn't a sense that "no one can touch me". This is flat out false. What is true is that some supervisors and officiating directors are more effective than others.
There are reasons why there's no public flogging of officials or hangings in the village green. We have enough retention problems as it is. But just because these things don't get announced doesn't mean they do not happen. In this case, an inexperienced official showed his inexperience, and a senior official transferred the heat to himself because he can take it.
I don't know how many dozens of games that Tortorella has coached that McCauley officiated -- I'm sure it's quite a few -- but it's not like they are a latter day Earl Weaver and Ron Luciano, where you can set an argument and ejection by your watch. Whatever happened and whatever was said on Saturday is now over and done. There won't be a carryover. That isn't Torts' way and it isn't McCauley's way.
Tortorella got a two-game suspension from NHL Hockey Ops for his refusal to leave the bench; not for anything he said before departing. I'm sure that was intended as much as a deterrent to all coaches to pull the stunt of refusing to leave. He also got a $50,000 fine, which the Flyers have said they'll pay on Tortorella's behalf. That's, to coin a phrase, fine and dandy. Tortorella was trying to stand up for his team, as he should. McCauley was standing up for his officiating partner, as he should. Things just went a bit too far. That's hockey sometimes.
Ultimately, did the punishment (game misconduct, two-game suspension for refusal to leave) fit the crime? I think reasonable minds can debate it. Without ALL the evidence, it's hard for me to definitively come down on one side or other here.
That's NOT the case in these next two stories.
Story 2: Doubling Down on a TRULY Egregious Error
There's a difference between a marginal call that was probably a mistake, and one where it's an indisputable error. This play in the following game shows that when there is a chance to make the right decision, officials and administrators plus the other team (who wouldn't want the same thing happening to them) value supporting a wrong call because they lack the overriding attitude to "GET IT RIGHT".
On Friday, March 1, 2024, a New Hampshire Division One woman's high school quarterfinal playoff game was played In Dover, New Hampshire. The game was played between the fourth seeded Oyster River-Portsmouth team, and the fifth seeded Berlin-Gorham-Kennett team.
Oyster River jumped out to a 2-0 lead, until Berlin-Gotham clawed their way back to tie the game at 2-2. The game ended and went into overtime. Berlin tenaciously seized the momentum.
With 2:41 left in the first overtime, the swift skating star senior forward from Berlin- Gorham, Ava Bartoli, already with a goal and an assist, carried the puck into Oyster River's zone and took a hard wrist shot at the top of the circles.
The goalie had a hard time with the shot, and video proof shows that the shot found its way through the goalie and went into the net, hit the twine quickly, landed behind the crease, where the goalie promptly turned to scoop it out of the net, seeming to slump down in defeat. The Berlin girls team, seeing the puck go into the net, promptly celebrated, with the entire bench emptying, including the Berlin goalie who skated from her own net at the other end of the ice to join the pile of celebrating teammates. Some of the girls from the losing team also started coming off the bench to go and console the losing goalie.
In the confusion of that moment, the referee was out of position, and did not see the puck go in the net. The referee was then seen conversing with the oyster River girls huddled around their net with their goalie and the referee.
All of a sudden, at the referees cue, the Oyster River goalie urged one of her players to go get the loose puck and skate it down the other end and put it into the open net of Berlin Gorham, because the referee apparently said that the puck was still live and that play never ended.
Berlin-Gorham was now fully and happily celebrating their supposed victory. Even their coaches were running from the bench on the ice to join the celebration. The head coach, Craig Bartoli, and the assistant coach Jenna Dawson could not believe their eyes when the next action occurred. They watched an oyster River girl fly down the other end of the ice with the puck and promptly tuck it into an open net, and then watch as the referee officially called that act as the game-winning goal!
The referee's instruction to perform such an act was not shared with the celebrating team on the ice, or they would have gone and defended their net and tried to prevent a free Break away and empty net goal. With this most absurd turn of events, all prompted by a referee named XXXX, what appeared to be the losing team saw one of it's girls promptly skate it down to the other end where the empty net goal had just been scored at the referees urging, and they began to celebrate wildly along with their coaches and fans. Unbelievable that the opposing teams coaches would have even considered excepting a victory like this.
The puck should've been dropped in the play continued even though the referee missed the true game-winning goal! Even the opposing team's athletic director kept apologizing profusely to the coaching staff of Berlin. He was behind the glass and saw the goal.
OK, well then, say so! For the integrity of the game, make it right!
The Berlin girls and coaches and fans simply stood there, stunned, shocked and bewildered as to what this could all mean. When the Berlin coaching staff tried to discuss any of this with the two referees, they were promptly shut down and told that "our decision is final and there will be no discussion." And video evidence is not allowed."
Later, it was stated that the New Hampshire rules state that any protest that was to occur, had to occur right then and there, immediately following the game.
Upholding a decision and allowing play to go on even with non-skaters on the ice flies in the face of safety. Tthe whistle should have gone and order restored but it wasn't.
SHAME ON THE OFFICIALS, THE STATE BOARD, THE "VICTORIOUS TEAM" AND ALL THAT EVEN PONDER THAT THIS WAS RIGHT"! If you think this bothers me more that the Tortorella/McCauley thing, you're damn right.
Go back to The Dartmouth vs. Cornell "5th down" play in the 1940s. The correct and fair decision was made there. Be morally correct, not suborning a lie.
Story 3: Intent to Injure?
I invite you to look at this play. There is no doubt that the player shoots the puck at the pile. No doubt, it's a stupid thing to do but to call this an attempt to injure, really?
The referee, not involved on the breaking up of the altercation, aggressively points at the miscreant player. He then calls a match penalty citing that the player was trying to injure the referee in the middle of the altercation. That offense calls for a one-year suspension. Wow! The death penalty for the player. The Mass High School Board upheld the referee's call.
I had a play in Tampa once where I judged Enrico Ciccone, a Tampa player for GM Phil Esposito, had shot the puck toward or at Linesman Ron Finn. I gave the guy a 2. a 10 and a game. But I did not call it intent to injure as that would be hard to prove as he did not hit the linesman.
Esposito met me in the runway after the period. I had a puck in my hand and as Espo started yelling at me, I threw the puck as hard as I could over Phil's head. He hit the deck I then asked Phil how he liked it. Eventually, we both agreed that his player was likely out of line and that I could have taken him for a 25-game suspension.
As stated, though, without hitting Fiin, it would be hard to prove. S we both agreed that Espo would have a "Chat" with Ciccone. Trust me, my instinct was to grab Enrico under the stands and "chat" with him myself. That was my "other" life, my "old life" as a player. I couldn't do that anymore. The voices in my head were my father and grandfather telling me that the point was made. Besides, there was no need to kill the guy and take away his living for 25 games.
I'm thinking that this referee and his partner had no father and grandfather whispering in their ears. Too bad for the kid as he cannot play any sports for one year for shooting the puck at the referee. Look at the video. If THIS is considered a "shot intending to injure" then I am brushing my teeth too hard.
My advice to this kid and his family...get a good lawyer, pull a Lou Lamoriello when he got the injunction after the Schoenfeld/Koharski incident. Get an injunction and leave it to a higher court.
I back officials when they are right or where there's a reasonable debate as to a judgment call. But this penalty is clearly excessive and does not fit the action. And for the two refs: Remember, when you put on that referee sweater, you are the judge and jury for an hour. I like benevolent judges with feel and understanding.
And THIS isn't the NHL. These are kids. Hold them accountable, sure, but a death sentence is way overboard here.
*********
A 2018 inductee into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
Join the Discussion:
»