Ever since the Tim Peel incident that ended the veteran NHL referee's career, I have noticed that many officials feel pulled in two different directions. Here's the problem: it's not the job of an official to "make the scales balance" with their calls. No one is issued x-number of black marbles and white marbles to place in a bag over the course of the game. Simultaneously, no official worth his salt should allow exterior pressure to alter his judgment.
Pressure is part of the job. There's pressure from the competing teams. Pressure from supervisors. Pressure from crowds (which we're all glad are now increasingly being allowed back in arenas, and were greatly missed). Pressure from the media. The pressure that officials place on themselves. If you can't block it all out, you're in the wrong line of work.
Officials who achieve longevity in the game, whether you're talking about Frank Udvari, Bill Chadwick, Andy van Hellemond, Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski, Bill McCreary, myself or many others, all had this in common: an ability to filter out the noise and call the game as we saw it.
What I have seen in the NHL during the Stanley Cup playoffs -- as well as during the regular season -- is that there are quite a few officials who lack the innate feel for the game, the bredth of training, experience or the courage of their convictions to officiate in a confident and consistent manner. I've seen telltale signs of indecisiveness that leads to game delays, and then underreactions or overreactions on subsequent plays. Overreliance on replay. Communication failures. In fact, too many times, the officiating teams have not been on the same page.
As an official, it is your own call how much leeway is merited. But you have to communicate -- to your partner officials, to the coaches and to the captains -- as to where you draw the line. Then you HAVE to follow through on your words. Hustle at all times, skating where you need to skate to see what you need to see. BE IN THE PROPER POSITION (all caps here because the root cause of many missed calls is incorrect positioning). These are the keys to commanding respect, even if one side is guaranteed to dislike each decision you make.
Any one who has officiated any sport gets a hearty chuckle at the well-meaning fans and reporters who say "just call the game strictly by the Rule Book." If one were to actually be that strict, there would be 40 or more power plays per game. And, no, players wouldn't adapt unless we played All-Star Game style hockey with zero checking, zero competing for time and space and zero emotion. Borderline penalties that could send someone to the box under the exact letter of the law in the Rule Book happen all game long. No one -- NO ONE -- actually wants the game to be called that tightly.
The truth of the matter is not all potential penalties are created equal. As an official, your challenge is to keep the game fair, keep it safe and keep it moving. You learn which players you have to watch just a little more closely on both sides. You learn who consistently their feet moving and fights through checking and who is prone to embellishing. This is where training, experience and feel for the game come into play.
I've written often about the recruiting and retention crisis within officiating; not just in hockey but in most sports. I am a strong advocate for encouraging former players to give officiating a try. It certainly worked for me. I played and officiated in the NHL but, frankly, I became a better official than I ever was a player (yeah, I know... that's not saying much, hahaha).
Here's the thing, though. There is a long development process involved with officials if it is done properly. As a young official, I had to re-climb the same rungs of the sport that young players do. I worked a lot of lower-level games, from junior hockey through the minors on up, before I was promoted to the NHL. The process took not months, but multiple years, of officiating games almost every day.
Nowadays, we are fast-tracking too many young officials through the development process. There are youngsters, particularly former players, who officiate in the American Hockey League -- and then are graduated to the NHL -- before they're actually ready for it. The training and coaching is insufficient and the greatest teacher of all (i.e., amassed personal experience) is absent. It's a shame, because there's a ton of potential out there but it's not marinated enough to turn into consistent performance.
These are the overarching factors that I've perceived with the state of NHL officiating, not just in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs but as part of the big picture of our sport. I realize that some of it is driven by necessity. That does not mean, however, that the state of affairs is not worrisome.
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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. 
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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