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One of the areas where I believe forward-thinking NHL teams could tap into an under-used knowledge base is by considering longtime officials for decision-making roles in their scouting departments and/or front offices. Why not?

An NHL owner once said to me, " Paul, you're not a scout or a GM. You're a ref and a former player. What would you know about finding players and putting a team together?"

My blunt response: "I am three feet from these guys. I know whose real and who throws snow. The scouts are three hundred feet up there in the press box. Some do a great job and some are mostly drinking coffee and worrying about the traffic getting home."

Listen, some NHL teams have taken chances on candidates who never played the game at any significant level. Some have been former agents or whatnot. Some have watched a lot of hockey and know all the buzz words but anyone who has been on the ice in a playing capacity at the NHL (or high minor league) level can see they really aren't qualified for hockey operations related posts as coaches, general managers, scouts, etc.

Some non-players have excelled in those posts. Some have been disasters.

Scotty Bowman is the ultimate example of someone who excelled in the NHL despite never playing pro hockey. Ditto Pat Burns and Ken Hitchcock.

Here's a little secret about those guys: Part of what made them so intelligent and successful as coaches that they know when and what to delegate to their assistant coaches who had been former NHL players or at least had been former pro players. Ray Shero, a former agent whose playing career topped out at the collegiate level, became an NHL front office man in Ottawa and Pittsburgh and later brought a Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh as a general manager.

The non-players who have been disasters in those jobs are the ones who went in thinking they knew more than everyone else.

I don't want to pick on Pierre McGuire, but he is a case in point of the latter type. He is clearly someone who knows all the jargon and can rattle off a lot of facts about players and teams but his tenure as Hartford Whalers head coach (on a team that had some pretty good talent on it) in 1993-94 was an utter fiasco because he was in over his head. Maybe now that it's 20 years later, Pierre would do better a second time around if some timea took a chance on him as an NHL general manager or in another hockey ops capacity.

At any rate, if some NHL teams are willing to consider for high-level jobs some non-players or those who otherwise lack high-level coaching experience, I should think that savvy hockey officials should also be part of the mix. There are some really sharp hockey people on the officiating side of the game. My brethren who excel in their professional know how to "read" players and often have a level of hockey sense than rivals even some longtime players. I have no doubt in my mind that there are current and former officials who could make for good scouts and front office people if NHL owners would open their mind to that possibility.

I know of whence I speak. I once interviewed for an NHL general manager job. I didn't get the job but the organization was impressed by the 85-page prospectus I had put together, laying out a long-term plan for what I thought the club needed to get to the next level of success.

I am not the only former official who has the chops to deserve consideration for such posts. It just takes one progressive-thinking team to open that door to my fellow officials and I think the rest of the hockey world will be surprised by just how much we actually do know about what goes into the making of a successful hockey team.


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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 first 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. Stewart also maintains 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.

In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.