1) Back in the early days of American football, the game was not so much a sport as a sport as a violent melee far rougher than even rugby. The game had very few rules, so everything from kicking to gouging to biting (colloquially dubbed "free lunching") on opponents was common and acceptable. Believe it or not, the most egregious and formally illegal violation a player or team could commit was the forward pass.

There were calls nationally to ban the sport. Instead, President Theodore Roosevelt -- a lover of sports and the outdoors -- insisted that the game be better codified rather than being banned. Along with the scores of innovations developed by legendary coach Glenn "Pop" Warner, who developed offensive and defensive systems at Cornell and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School including many plays and techniques that are still in use to this very day, Roosevelt's advocacy for the sport and his dialogues with Warner were crucial to its early survival.

I thought about Teddy Roosevelt and the old Pop Warner's Book for Boys the other day when I read about former NHL enforcer turned Quebec politician Enrico Ciccone calling for an outright fighting ban in youth hockey all the way up to the QMJHL level.

My question to Enrico is this: Since it's been quite some time since you were directly part of the hockey community, how many influential coaches and leaders within the sport did you consult before advocating your position? The truth of the matter is that fighting has ALREADY been largely legislated out of the game. We have bigger problems in terms of player safety from the youth levels up through major junior/college and into the pros.

Too many players are ill-taught in how to check legally. When players reach the age of body checks being part of the game -- unless they are removed entirely -- too many hit recklessly and many are also unaware of how to minimize their own risk when receiving a hit. We also need education and advocacy in terms of equipment safety and enforcement of players wearing their equipment properly.

Unless I missed it, no part of the bill that Ciccone sponsored deals with any of these vital, and under-publicized issues. He just went for the fighting aspect, which is a convenient soapbox to stand on but not one that truly addresses the most omnipresent player safety challenges in youth hockey upward.

There really aren't all that many full-blown fights in the game today, especially since the adoption of suspensions for accumulated fights and the general decline of the on-ice role that Enrico himself (and I, during my playing days). Reckless hits that serve no hockey purpose? Plenty of those. Players who increase their own risk because they put themselves in vulnerable positions? Far too many. Ill-fitting, improperly worn gear, especially at youth levels? Very common. A need to work with manufacturers -- and hold them accountable -- to make sure that "protective equipment" isn't, in reality, a weapon? Yes.

Enrico got his name in the news but I think a more universally important opportunity was missed here to have someone who used to play the game professionally speak up on behalf of something that would have a bigger impact on player safety than a province-wide fighting ban.

2) During his playing days, Enrico was a real character on the ice. Apart from his fights, he seemed puzzled as to why certain things he did were penalties. I refereed a game once where I called Ciccone two or three times on roughing penalties along the boards for the same offense: delivering what was initially a clean check but punctuating it by popping his opponent in the face with his glove as they disengaged.

Each time, Ciccone insisted he was just finishing his check and each time I told him the "finish" was exactly why he was getting the gate. The check itself was textbook and totally legal, but the gloved punch before skating away was a roughing penalty. He disagreed with my call, which was his prerogative. I sent him back to the box again when he later repeated the action, which was my prerogative as the referee.

The roughing penalty debate with Enrico was standard stuff in the player-official relationship. It was no big deal to me, and probably not to Ciccone, either, because he relied on physicality and intimidation of opponents. If I were his coach, though, I probably wouldn't have been too happy with a second needless penalty.

There was, however, I time when I reffed a game where Ciccone crossed the line out of frustration. He shot the puck deliberately at lineman Ron Finn. I tossed the player for it. Ron would have preferred if I let it slide, but I felt I had to get involved in that situation. After the game, Tampa Bay Lightning general Phil Esposito came downstairs after the game to talk it over with me. He was already waiting for me in the runway of that awful ballpark rink the Lightning played in at the time.

I was clutching a puck in my hand at the time. When I saw Espo, I chucked the puck in his direction like a baseball brushback pitch up and in; with a lot of velocity but deliberately high and a little wide so it wouldn't bean him. Being no fool, Esposito hit the deck.

"How do YOU like it?" I asked. "You still wanna to know why I tossed Ciccone?"

Espo got the point. I am glad we are old friends. He didn't rat me out to the League office afterward, but he could have. Nowadays, we laugh about that story.

Final thoughts: For the most part, I had no problem with Enrico as a player. I don't know him well off the ice, but he seemed like an OK guy. Things sometimes happen in and around the game that we're not proud of after the fact.

3) Speaking of things people are not proud of, I don't think anyone looks good in the Arizona Coyotes drafting fiasco with Mitchell Miller. First and foremost, how much investigation of his back story (beyond rudimentary knowledge of the case) went into their character check? When a red flag such as this pops up, a thorough followup is part of the expected course. The lack of a direct apology to the victim and his family should have been known ahead of the Draft.

If i were part of the hockey ops staff on the Coyotes, I'd have serious concerns about whether this is someone I'd want in our locker room. How's he going to handle personal accountability (his admission of guilt in the legal sense is not the same as genuine remorse and reflection, which apparently he did NOT show)? What kind of teammate will he be? How coachable is he? Is he a risk of getting in trouble again off the ice? The circumstances involved in this particular case went well beyond the pale.

The type of bullying that Miller engaged in went beyond repeated racial slurs and emotional tormenting of a classmate to outright physical abuse and cruelty to a developmentally disabled victim, and is unconscionable. For Miller's own sake, I hope he seeks and receives help. This was not a "prank gone bad" or a youthful indiscretion born of ignorance. There was apparently a pattern of abusive behavior here, which suggests someone with deep-seeded issues beyond simply being immature or entitled. As for the victim and his family, it goes without saying that no one should have to experience what they went through.

In the meantime, why did the Coyotes renounce Miller's rights? Two words: Bad publicity. It was a decision that smacked of lawyers and risk managers ruling the roost. If the organization GENUINELY felt that Miller was remorseful, eager to learn from his mistakes, aim for atonement and off-ice evolution -- basically, the sorts of opportunities management said they felt Miller was deserving of while they were defending his selection -- they'd have seen it through.

The "Coyote ugly" truth here is this: Arizona saw a physically talented prospect who'd have been snapped off the Draft board long before the fourth round were it not for the off-ice red flags. They either did a half-ass job in exploring further into those red flags or they hoped there'd by no publicity from it given that he was the 111th overall pick. Neither of those very wise methods of operation. When they got called on it, at first they tried to feign that his selection was made out of an interest in giving a troubled young person a fresh start. When the bad publicity continued, they cut ties.

When all was said and done, the Coyotes did the games and themselves a disservice by being haphazard and, ultimately, spineless. As for Mitchell Miller, I will reiterate that I hope he can turn his young life around and I really hope he understands that HE is not the main victim here. The victim is the young man that he psychologically, emotionally and physically abused.

4) My younger son is playing in Quebec at Stanstead College. I must say that i am impressed by the precautions they have taken to minimize the Covid-19 risk to the players, coaches and community. I feel like my son and his teammates are as about as safe as anyone can be in these times.

In terms of other hockey leagues and teams, I have some real concerns about the 2020-21 season. The levels of precaution, testing, exposure risk and existing community and social-gathering spread from team to team and place to place makes me scared for what's to come. There are some leagues that are shelved through the remainder of 2020. Some leagues that are only partially operational right now. Some where individual teams have been compelled to postpone practices and games. Some leagues that may allow fans in, others that can't. Every situation is fluid, too, and could change quickly.

As someone who still staffs officiating on a regional level, the challenge of getting locally based crews signed and making sure everyone is healthy is a very daunting task. It takes only one weak link in the screening (or honesty) chain to put others at risk.

At some point,both in North American and European leagues, I start to question the wisdom of
our sport flying by the seat of our pants as we try to get in a season. If everyone isn't taking the same level of precautions and it's all just a big Whack-a-Mole game where the targets pop up faster and more numerous (eventually too numerous to get them all, which seems to be happening right now), should we really be doing this right now in many of these leagues?

5) Rest in peace, Travis Roy. He was an incredible, inspirational young man who will be greatly missed by all who met him, knew him or never met him but whose lives were touched by his in some way.

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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