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The Folks Who Make the Hockey Life a Good Life

September 27, 2018, 7:41 AM ET [3 Comments]
Paul Stewart
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22

When people ask me what I miss the most about being an official or a player, I sometimes get surprised reactions when I give my response. As deeply as I miss the year-to-year and day-to-day bond with my officiating teammates (and, before that, my playing teammates) -- which is the answer most former officials and players give to that oft-asked question -- the thing that I miss the most is the interactions with all of the people I got to know in the various towns and cities around the league.

Within the teams themselves, I had a great relationship with the trainers and equipment managers. I could tell a lot about the character of players by how they treated these fine people. The good guys in the game realize these men are very much part of the team. The jerks treat them like servants.

Having a good equipment manager is almost like having an extra player: The other night, I was watching an NHL preseason game in which a player broke his stick. In the blink of an eye, the equipment manager retrieved and handed him a new one as the player skated out to the blueline. He was right back in the play. That is what a top-notch equipment manager can do. It looks so seamless, that I don't think even many diehard fans recognize that there was a skill involved from the staff at the bench.

The equipment guys work the longest hours of anyone on the team, lugging gear, packing and unpacking. They prepare the locker room and arrange the gear in meticulous fashion yet they work quickly. They know exactly how every player likes his skates sharpened. They know every stick-taping preference. They know all the gossip, too, and tell the funniest stories. As friends, they often make the best confidants and guys with whom to have a postgame beer.

The team trainers also do yeoman work. As someone who took his share of stitches, was concussed a couple dozen times (more times as an official, actually, than as a player) and left plenty of chicklets on the ice, these were the guys who tended to us. They did so with the same care for the officials that they do for the players. During my playing days, the trainers were the ones who helped enable me to perform my role as an enforcer game after game and night after night.

I also greatly miss the arena employees -- the security guards I'd gotten to know on a first-name basis, the chefs who'd send food down to us, the locker room attendants who made sure we had everything we needed (sometimes even after an irate team manager, GM or coach would insist they take away even our towels) -- for their kindness and conversation. While I made friends with these folks during my playing days, I especially appreciated them as an official.

Players hold a certain celebrity status in town, even non-star players like I was. It's kind of funny. Most fans are great people, and the fans as a whole are the lifeblood of our game. But there are also some who are two-faced about they treat you to your face vs. what they say about you to others. Many of the same fans who boo from their seats or call in the radio shows and complain about what a stiff you are often the very same ones -- which is their prerogative, and it's their money -- who suddenly fawn all over you if you walk into their place of business or they see you at a postgame establishment or a team event.

Officials, on the other hand, are regarded as less-than-human to many, at least within the confines of the arena. No one roots for the ref. Taking abuse is part of the job, but not a fun part. Having a sense of humor about oneself is a must, and the abundance of good-natured ribbing is quite alright. That's a different matter altogether from being abused.

As such, hockey officials appreciate a smiling face or the small acts of kindness before and after the game perhaps just a little more that the players. I enjoyed interacting with the arena workers as a player but came to appreciate them even more as an official.

One time, Pat Dapuzzo and I were the standbys for a playoff game in Toronto. We knew the executive chef at the arena, and he'd become a friend of ours. He felt bad for us and sent down one marvelous dish after another -- lobster tail, prime rib, you name it. Before our brother officials returned to the room, we'd hidden the plates. By the midway point of the game, there were so many bones hidden, that it looked like Jurassic Park! It was a good thing we weren't needed on the ice.

Another time as a standby in Montreal, our friends at the arena sent us down free hot dogs -- the Chien Chaud there is famous for good reason; a hot dog like no other. I've heard people say those hot dogs are almost worth the trip to Montreal by itself. I don't know if I'd take it that far, but they are damn good. Even people who don't normally like hot dogs usually enjoy the famous Chien Chaud in Montreal.

In Montreal, I got to be good friends with the elderly security guard, Ramon. In his very heavy francophone accent, he'd tell great stories. He was the one who introduced me to "dee big guy" (Rocket Richard, who knew my grandfather) when Richard would come visit us. He was also the one who arranged to get my best suit cleaned during the game after a bird, um, decorated it while walking to the arena for a playoff game. ("Ah, Paul, don't worry about it. I will take care of you, ya know?").

So, for as much as I miss being on the ice and witnessing firsthand the game's great players and great coaches doing what they do best, the people who made every trip to every building a pleasure in its own way are the ones who most represent why the hockey life is such a rewarding one.

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A Class of 2018 inductee to 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. Today, Stewart is the director of hockey officiating for the ECAC. Visit his official website at YaWannaGo.com.
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