I am awaiting with interest the news on how -- and who -- the NHL will assign its on-ice officials for the blitz of games upcoming in Phase 4 of the return-to-play plan. Three games per game in both Toronto and Edmonton for the qualifiers and round robin means a whole lot of logistics to work out for the referees and linesmen.

The NHL and NHLPA have talked a lot -- understandably and appropriately so -- about what the standards and protocols will be for the players and coaches living and working "inside the bubble" in the hub cities. Nothing at all was said about on-ice officials -- or whether the NHL Officials union was given any input, so I had to search for the info within the NHL's Return-to-Play memorandum. From what I found:

* On-ice officials will be Covid-19 tested and temperature checked daily (which was almost a given with the close proximity in which referees and linesmen work to each other and the players);

* The NHL advises that close contact with players be limited to essential interactions during the game ("Sorry, pal. I can't argue this call. I'm practicing social distancing. You should, too!");

* On-ice officials will live in the secure-zone (AKA bubble) hotel for the duration of their assignment;

* As with coaches on the benches, on-ice officials need not wear facial coverings while on the ice.

In the meantime, the NHL memo lays out various services that are provided to players who are living in the bubble. Here's an example: "In light of the potentially lengthy absence of the Players from their homes arising out of Players’ participation in Phase 4, each Club’s Club Services personnel will make best efforts to assist in providing grocery delivery and errand delivery services to the Player’s family members remaining at home in the Club city, as needed. In addition,each Club will make best efforts to assist Player families with accessing medical services, including RT- PCR testing, as necessary."

In terms of players seeing their families, the memorandum has this to say: "Player families are not permitted in the Phase 4 Secure Zone until the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final,
at which time the Players will be permitted to invite their immediate family members to stay in the Phase 4 Secure Zone. Immediate family members include a Player’s spouse or partner, and his children. Player families will be provided with separate hotel rooms for the duration of their stay in the Phase 4 Secure Zone . Player families, however, may choose to reside with the Player they are visiting upon satisfying their testing and quarantine requirements and subject to the Phase 4 Secure Zone hotel’s standard occupancy rules and guidelines."

I am fine with all of this, and it speaks to the strength and influence of the NHL Players' Association to be able to successfully negotiate these services on behalf of its members. I do, however, have a question.

Do our on-ice officials not have families, too? Aren't they going to be away from wives and children for just as long? I scoured the document twice to see if the same considerations extend to referees and linesmen. I didn't see a single word about it, so I'm just asking.

"Life in the bubble" is going to feel strange for officials. Travel is a way of life for referees and linesmen even more so than the players and teams. I can tell you that, unequivocally, as someone who both played and officiated professionally. For referees and linesman, there are no "home games" (unless your residence is in fairly close proximity to an NHL club's area; or, if possibly, centrally located near a cluster of several arenas) and certainly no prolonged homestands. It's part of the job to be on the move constantly.

When I was an an NHL referee, it was typical that I would travel well over 100,000 miles per season, spanning coast to coast in the United States and Canada. Strategically, many officials try to live within driving distance of multiple arenas.

For instance, that is why there have been Canadian-born officials who make their residence in New Jersey, It's a manageable commute to work a home game for any of four different teams (Devils, Flyers, Rangers and Islanders) and also workable for rapidly planning to get to DC, Pittsburgh, Buffalo or even Boston or Toronto even without a ton of advanced notice.

In my own experience, I always knew the train schedules from Boston as well as the regular flight routes. I kept a travel bag packed and ready to go on demand. These are all good practices I would recommend to any aspiring official: be at the ready and have your own plan for getting from Point A (in this case, your home base) to Point B even on short notice.

NHL referees are supposed to work 73 regular season games per season. Linesmen are supposed to work 75 games maximum. I say "supposed to" because, some years ago, the NHL found an end-around -- with the complicity of people in union leadership positions -- to give extra games above the maximum to specific favored officials as a way for these people to earn extra money without giving across-the-board raises.

Every NHL owner pays into the league's officiating budget. Theoretically, referees are scheduled to work close to the same number of games in each building in the NHL over the course of the regular season. That means that officials are on the road for most of the month throughout the season.

Of course, whenever someone travels that often -- whether by plane or car -- there are bound to be occasional problems, especially during the winter months. I could probably write a blog for Weather.com on travel through snowstorms and other extreme and unusual conditions.

For example, one time I worked a Carolina Hurricanes game where there was snow in the forecast -- a bit higher than normal for North Carolina, but nothing too far out of the ordinary. Surprise! Raleigh got well over two feet of snow. My fellow officials and I were stranded at our hotel, the Crabtree Marriott, for several days. As a matter of fact, the hotel ran out of food and beverages because no supplies could be delivered.

Before the Hartford Whalers relocated to Carolina and became the Hurricanes, I worked a very lengthy game one night between the Whalers and Ottawas Senators. It was a penalty filled game that lasted well over three hours.

At one juncture of the second period, Senators defenseman Steve Duchense recklessly cut Hartford's Nelson Emerson with a high stick. I gave him a double minor. Hartford's Keith Primeau scored two goals during the back-to-back power plays.

Later in the game, Hartford's Kent Manderville's stick nicked Daniel Alfredsson, drawing a trickle of blood. I was NEVER a referee than believed that any trace of blood should automatically mean a lengthier penalty. It depended on the play and exactly how the stick was wielded. Manderville's infraction was not as bad as Duchense's, so I penalized it accordingly. I gave Mandy two minutes.

Senators coach Jacques Martin was not a happy man. I explained my reasoning for the two calls but he did not accept it. We went nose-to-nose, although I let him have his say on behalf of his team without issuing a bench minor.

By the time the interminable game finally ended, I realized that I had no prayer of making my commercial flight. I found Jacques and asked him if the two linesmen (Greg Devorski and Conrad Hache) and I could take the charter flight to Ottawa along with the team.

He said OK. I did, however, notice a fair bit of voluntary social distancing from us.

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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.

Visit Paul's official websites, YaWannaGo.com and Officiating by Stewart.