Congratulations to two LONG time good friends --
David Poile and
Paul Stewart -- who are two of the five new members joining the
US Hockey Hall of Fame in its 2018 class. I have known David, the
GM of the
Nashville Predators, since his days as an Administrative Assistant and later Assistant GM with the then expansion
Atlanta Flames in the 1970s and Stewie going back to when he was a player at the
University of Pennsylvania in the mid 1970s.
David Poile and Paul Stewart
David, of course, went on to long stints as GM of both the
Washington Capitals and as the only GM in Predators' history, and on March 1, 2018 he became the
winningest GM in NHL history when the Preds defeated the Edmonton Oilers giving him his
1,320th win surpassing Glen Sather's mark of 1,319. After an eight year playing career in the
NHL, WHA and five minor leagues, Stewie embarked on his lengthy career as an
NHL referee officiating
1,010 regular season and
49 playoff games, the
1987 Canada Cup, the
1991 Canada Cup and two
All-Star games. A cancer survivor himself, Stewie has also been a leader in the
"Hockey Fights Cancer" movement.
Both have connections with hockey in
Philadelphia as David's father,
Norman "Bud" Poile, was the
Philadelphia Flyers' first
GM when the club joined the NHL in
1967 and was responsible for drafting the likes of
Bernie Parent, Doug Favell, Joe Watson, Ed Van Impe, and
Gary Dornhoefer who went on to win the
Stanley Cup seven years later in 1974 and also hired fellow Hall of Famer
Keith Allen as the Flyers first coach. Stewie played with the
AHL Philadelphia Firebirds as a pro as well as with in college with the
UofP Quakers.
Both David and Paul are descendants of Hall of Famers. David's father Bud played for
five of the
NHL's "Original Six" (Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, New York and Boston) before going on to a 13 year coaching career in the old
WHL (Edmonton, San Francisco). In addition to being the first GM of the expansion Flyers in 1967 he did the same thing for the
Vancouver Canucks in 1970. Bud Poile was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1990.
Bill Stewart Sr and Bud Poile
Paul's grandfather was
Bill Stewart Sr who was not only also a longtime
NHL referee like Paul and was himself elected to the US Hockey Hall of Fame in
1982, but was a
National League baseball
umpire as well. In
1928 Bill Stewart Sr became the
NHL's first U.S.-born referee and served in that capacity until
1941 with the exception of a year-and-a-half he spent as coach of the
Chicago Black Hawks which he led to a surprise upset
Stanley Cup title in
1938. Stewart was a NL baseball umpire from
1933 to
1954 and also officiated in four
World Series (1937, 1943, 1948, 1953) and four
All-Star Games (1936, 1940, 1948, 1954). After retiring as an umpire he worked as a scout for the
Cleveland Indians and
Washington Senators and also remained active in hockey including coaching the
U.S. National Hockey team in
1957 posting a
23–3–1 record.
Bill Stewart's February 19, 1964
New York Times obituary described him this way:
"There were two Bill Stewarts. To the baseball or hockey fan who watched him as umpire or referee, he was a melancholy, disillusioned man of icy-hearted integrity, often engaged in brawls, accidents or crowd uproars. To the people who knew him off the playing field or ice, he was an affable and articulate man with a fantastic memory and remarkable drive. His face and hands were generally tanned, his jaw was wide and determined and his eyes were penetrating and authoritative.
"Perhaps only in his philosophy were the two Bill Stewarts merged clearly, knowingly and importantly. This he probably best expressed in an interview about 15 years ago: 'The most important thing—and schools can't teach it—is to make decisions quick and to have the guts to stick to them once they're made, come hell or high water.' "
This could apply equally to his grandson Paul as both a hockey player and official.
Congratulations to these two terrific hockey men who will both be distinguished additions to the USHHoF.
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