By now, most of you have probably seen video of footage of Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman getting up woozily from receiving a hit along the boards, skating inattentively toward the bench and cross-checking linesman Don Henderson from behind as Wideman partially side-stepped at the last moment. Henderson was OK and so was Wideman.
There was no penalty called on the play. Wideman apologized to Henderson and later reiterated the apology to the media, insisting vehemently it was an accident.
I get the woozy part and I understand the remorse. However, he's got to sit. The rule is specific and justly so. Hitting a ref or linesman, whether you are conscious or semi-conscious, is an absolute NO EXCUSE action. The NHL Rule Book spells out the automatic disciplinary aftermath.
Rule 40.3: Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner... without intent to injure, shall be automatically suspeded for not less than ten (10) games.
People have wondered why no abuse of an official penalty was imposed on the ice for Wideman. That would have automatically triggered the 10-game suspension. To this day, most officials are very reluctant to invoke physical abuse calls. It goes back to the aftermath of the Tom Lysiak and Ron Foyt incident.
In a 1983 game between Chicago and Hartford, Blackhawks forward Lysiak deliberately tripped linesman Ron Foyt in retaliation for being tossed out of the faceoff circle several times during the game, including moments before the incident. Lysiak got a 20-game suspension at the recommendation of referee Dave Newell, which the NHL Players' Association tried to have the rule overturned in court for lack of due process (they succeeded in getting a 10-day restraining order before the suspension was implemented).
After that, the Rule book was amended to dish out specific supplementary discipline for degrees of severity of abuse of an official. Only the NHL president (now commisioner) can change the suspension that accompanies an abuse call made on the ice. No one else gets to review it. In today's game, that would mean an abuse call would go right over the head of my buddies in the Hockey Ops run Department of Player Safety and would go straight to Gary Bettman's desk.
The aftermatch of the Lysiak incident, however, also came at a high price to Foyt. He was fired by the NHL. Ever since than, most officials have been reluctant to invoke abuse-of-an-official calls on the ice. Many more incidents happen than on the ice than find their way to the commissioner.
I say this as someone who was in a somewhat similar situation myself during my playing days. Through personal experience and having been both a pro player and referee, I understand what happened with Wideman better than most anyone else possibly can. I do not feel pity for Wideman but I do have just a little bit of empathy.
When I played in the North American Hockey League for the Binghamton Dusters during the 1976-77 season, we had a road game against the Erie Blades. Erie's Rick Jodzio deliberately cross-checked me right in the face. Referee Al Goodman did not call a penalty.
I suffered a broken jaw, eight lost teeth, a concussion and cuts that later took 64 stitches inside and outside of my face to close. I stayed in to finish the period-- which was more or less expected of players at the time -- although I was in agony and in a mental state that could fairly be described as delirious. I went to the trainer's room after the period.
As I sat in the training room in my long underwear, I was still bleeding and very woozy. Dusters' coach Larry Kish entered. He grabbed me by the wrist and led me out to the hallway to see Goodman.
"Look at his face, Al!" Kish demanded, giving me a little shove in the back toward the official.
Goodman put his hands on my shoulders, glanced at my face, and then pushed me back at Kish. I lost my balance and swooned back into my coach. To this day, I don't know what happened next, because I was in such a daze. I was told after the fact that I lunged immediately back at Goodman, throwing a single punch that broke his nose.
Later that night, I was taken to the hospital. I underwent both facial plastic surgery and oral surgery to repair the damage. Among other procedures, my broken jaw and eight teeth were wired back in place.
As soon as I found out what I had done, I called Goodman and apologized. I felt worse about what I'd done than about my own injuries or the non-call on the play. As the grandson of Bill Stewart and son of Bill Stewart Jr. -- both excellent referees -- I felt like I'd let my family name down. Even under extreme circumstances, punching an official is never excusable. If I had my mental faculties about me, I never would physically attacked Goodman or any other official regardless of how angry I felt at a given moment.
I knew the NAHL was going to suspend me, and dreaded the outcome. I just hoped that the rumors of a lifetime suspension would be false. When I got the call, this is how it went:
"How long are you going to be out with your injuries?" I was asked.
"About a month," I said as best I could.
"OK, we're suspending you for eight games. We're also fining you $5,000. If you weren't Bill Stewart's kid, you'd never be allowed back. But we accept that you didn't know what you were doing."
Was I relieved? Somewhat.
I was only making $8,000 for the entire season and $300 a week. I didn't have the money to pay the fine, The remorse was still heavy in my heart. I knew I deserved whatever punishment came. I was grateful to be able to serve my eight-game suspension while healing. Dusters owner Jim Matthews then came to my rescue financially. He gave me the money to pay the fine, which was allowed in that era.
In the end, I was a lucky man.
Fast forward ahead two decades. By now I was a long-established NHL referee. I was working an Edmonton Oilers game when a melee broke out. In the course of the fracas, Oilers defenseman Sean Brown punched and landed a good shot -- right on me. Reflexively, my training took over and I nailed him with one right back as I fell to the ice.
Sean felt bad, and so did I. We quickly put it behind us. I later got to know him a little bit, and I really liked him as a person. Glen Sather threatened to do everything in his power to get me fired, and I said something along the lines of "You do that and you're going to lose Brown, too. He struck me, the referee, first. He apologized. I accepted it. I apologized. He accepted it."
So that ended it. Brown and I each simply went back about our respective business.
Later on, Sean and I laughed and exchanged compliments out of the unwritten Enforcers' Guide to Off-Ice Etiquette. He told me I hit him harder than most players he'd ever fought. I chuckled and said something along the lines of most of the guys I'd fought during my playing days weren't strapping 6-foot-2, 200 or so pounders like he was.
there were several incidents where I was the victim of the abuse. That does not even count a time in the AHL where I met Andre Savard under the stands to settle our differences and Savard landed a good one. It also doesn't count being punched by fans in Winnipeg in the NHL and Moncton in the AHL.
On March 21, 1985, my 32nd birthday, I was working a Moncton Golden Flames game. Defenseman Dale "Digger" DeGray deliberately shot a puck at me. I call it my Moncton Birthday Cake (hahaha).
Gallows humor is part of this job, folks. You don't have to be crazy to be an official, but sometimes it can't hurt.
************************************************************************ 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 serves as director of hockey officiating for the ECAC at both the Division 1 and Division 3 levels.
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.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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