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Happy New Year, everyone. I have been enjoying the holidays at home with my family before heading back to Russia for my job with the KHL. I hope everyone who came out to Harvard on Sunday to see the Crimson take on the Red Stars of Russia's MHL league enjoyed the event. The free admission was a belated holiday gift to hockey fans from Harvard Hockey, the MHL, and ECAC and from our Officiating family.
I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the calendar to flip to 2014. It promises to be our best year ever.
On this New Year's Eve celebration of noisemakers and airhorns, I thought it would be a good symbolic date to discuss an often-misunderstood part of the hockey rulebook: whistles and stoppages of play. This is an area where some media members and a large percentage of fans in the stands can use a little bit of education about the rules.
In the current NHL rulebook, Rule 31.2 lays out in very specific terms that what matters is not when the whistle blows, but when the referee
decides to blow play dead. The reasons can include losing sight of the puck or the referee deciding that a goaltender has demonstrated clear control of the puck and a stoppage of play is merited.
Rule 31.2 Disputes
The Referees shall have general supervision of the game and shall have full control of all game officials and players during the game, including stoppages; and in case of any dispute, their decision shall be final.
As there is a human factor involved in blowing the whistle to stop play, the Referee may deem the play to be stopped slightly prior to the whistle actually being blown. The fact that the puck may come loose or cross the goal line prior to the sound of the whistle has no bearing if the Referee has ruled that the play had been stopped prior to this happening.
The genesis of this rule stems from something that happened in my own active officiating career. I went to blow the whistle one night and discovered I was only holding onto a mouthpiece -- the whistle had somehow broken.
As I tried in vain to physically announce a stoppage in play, shouting and waving my arms, a puck squirted free near the net and was stashed in. A dispute ensued. I had ruled play dead but had no way to blow the whistle to get play to stop in time. As a result, the wording of the rulebook was changed to emphasize the referee's decision-making rather than the blowing of the whistle itself.
A more common disputed stoppage situation is something that happened when I refereed my first NHL game (March 27, 1986, Montreal at Boston).
Late in the second period with the Bruins leading 3-2, Boston forward Steve Kasper put a shot on net. Montreal rookie goaltender Patrick Roy made the save.
The puck momentarily disappeared under Roy. Just as I went to blow the whistle to call for a stoppage of play and an offensive zone faceoff for Boston, the puck squirted free and Geoff Courtnall poked it in the net. The goal light went on, the sellout crowd and Bruins began to celebrate.
Now I had to be the bearer of bad news to the Bruins: the goal didn't count. In retrospect, I blew that call. I was too hasty with the whistle.
When referees miss loose puck calls around the net and blow the whistle too fast, the most common reason for the mistake is that the referee was not in good enough position to see the puck. My mantra has always been this: The money is at the net, so get to the net no matter what, for the best possible look at the play.
The NHL has discouraged this in recent years, telling its referees to stay in the corner to avoid the risk of getting caught up in a play around the net. I consider this poor coaching. Refs being too deep in the corners is something that has resulted in many missed calls, including one during last season's Stanley Cup Finals. It's frustrating, but it is the way today's NHL referees are coached to position themselves.
I know I am late chiming in on this, but on the recent blooper reel overtime goal that saw an airborne puck fall into the back of Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith's pants and Smith unknowingly take the puck into his own net for the winning goal, I feel that it was a blown call to allow the goal.
First of all, Smith had full possession of the puck in his equipment; albeit unknowingly. Secondly, the referees were not in great position on this play and the puck absolutely left their sight (as well as everyone else's). As such, I thought it should have been a no-goal, dead puck ruling.
I'll be back on Thursday. Enjoy your New Year's responsibly and safely!
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Recent Blogs by Paul Stewart
From Body by Dunkin' to Body by Smitty
The Red Line, O'Rourke Injury and the Two-Ref System
A Christmas Blog
Romeo and that Fox-y Glow
On Wilson, Kamikaze Attacks and Red Herrings
Working With Injury
Coach Accountability and the Engelland Incident
Linesman Appreciation Day: From Thor to Bob's Big Boy to 42nd St. Cops
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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 only American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is an officiating and league discipline consultant for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials, while also maintaining a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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