Congratulations go out to Brendan Shanahan, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Chelios, the late Fred Shero and women's player Geraldine Heaney for their formal inductions into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto later today. All are worthy selections when you look at their career accomplishments.
As with Shero, who died in 1990, I wish that Pat Burns would have been inducted into the Builders category in his lifetime. I'm sure he will get in eventually as a three-time winner of the Jack Adams Award and as a coach who guided the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup and previously took the Montreal Canadiens to the Finals.
Although the three-year anniversary of Burns' cancer-related death at age 58 is not until next week, I think Hall of Fame induction day is a good time to remember Burns in support of his candidacy.
Let me say this about Pat Burns: I had a world of respect for the man as an NHL coach. He was one of the best at getting the most from his players. He knew when to crack the whip and when to lay back a little. He was tough but fair. Personally speaking, there was always a mutual respect underlying my relationship with Burns.
That did not mean, however, that we always got along. We clashed quite a bit when he was behind the bench and I was refereeing games. As two alpha personalities, neither one of us were willing to give much ground to the other when we argued.
Let's put it this way: If Burns and I had been partner cops during his stint as a police officer in Gatineau, Quebec, we would have been fodder for one of those buddy cop movies with two maverick officers who argue all the time because they are so much alike at heart. We'd have fought over who got to drive the squad car. We'd have fought over the minutia of police procedures. We'd have even fought about where to eat when we were off duty.
One thing I always respected about Burns was that he had ways of letting you know when he was just trying to spark his team as opposed to genuinely being mad. At those times, he communicated to me through smirks and winks that the players in front of him couldn't see. Pat could also push my buttons at times and make my anger boil.
Here's the quintessential Pat Burns story from my dealings with him over the years.
During his stint coaching the Boston Bruins, I refereed a game against Ottawa. Late in the second period, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson and a fellow Swede, Boston's P-J Axelsson were jawing at each other after Alfredsson gave Axelsson an extra little love tap with the stick. Knowing full well these two guys were players who wouldn't lick their lips in a rainstorm, I let play continue.
Suddenly, I heard Burns yell at my from the Boston bench.
"Stewy!" he shouted. "You are just screwing the Bruins to try and show how impartial you are!"
Immediately, I felt the anger well up inside me. I did not appreciate my integrity as an official being called into question. Let's get one thing straight: I never once set out to try and help or hinder any particular team. The fact that I was a native Bostonian had no bearing on how I refereed a game involving the Bruins just as the fact that I once played for the Nordiques in the NHL and in the New York Rangers minor league system had no bearing whatsoever on how I called games involving the Nordiques/Avalanche or Rangers.
Upon hearing Burns' comment, I blew play dead and skated over to the bench to have, um, a little chat with Pat. Here's the family-friendly version of the conversation.
"What did you just say to me?!" I demanded.
"You heard me," he said. "You wanna show everyone how unbiased you are so you are screwing Boston every chance you get."
"Pat, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life," I said. "You know as well as I do that Alfredsson barely even touched your player."
At that point, Axelsson piped up in protest. I told him to shut up or else. Then I resumed my debate with Burns.
"Stewy, you've made one lousy call after another tonight and I'm sick of you trying to stick it to my players," Burns said, staring me right in the eyes.
Then he winked at me.
Instantly, I realized what was really going on in this situation. Burns was just trying to get his team fired up and I was a convenient common enemy as the referee. My anger started to subside. The conversation lowered to a normal decibel level, and I ended it with a little zinger to Pat.
"I don't want to hear any more of this garbage from your bench," I said. "Oh, and Pat, tell your wife that I like the tie she picked out for you tonight."
Burns gave me his trademark smirk. After the period ended, Ray Bourque skated over to me to make sure things were smoothed over.
"You know Burnsie was trying to get the guys fired up," he said. "So please don't take it out on us in the third period."
"As far as I'm concerned, it's over and done with," I said.
"Good," Bourque said, and started to turn to skate to the locker room.
"I'm not done yet," I said. "If I'm proven wrong, and it's not over and done with, Pat is really going to have a reason to be upset in Buffalo tomorrow night."
"You mean you're..." Bourque said.
"That's right," I interrupted. "You guys have got me again tomorrow night in Buffalo. If I hear one thing on TV about anyone saying I'm out to get the Bruins, if I read one thing like that in the newspapers, then I can promise you guys really will have a problem with me. You won't get one power play all night. Am I clear? Is this over now?"
"Yeah," Bourque said. "I'll make sure of it."
After the game was over, I saw a postgame interview with Burns on the TV in the officials locker room. A media member asked the coach what happened between him and me at the end of the second period.
"Stewy is a good referee, but I don't think he had his best period," Burns said.
That comment was OK by me. It didn't cross that boundary line between saying he disagreed with my calls and accusing me of being biased.
The next night in Buffalo, I skated over to the Bruins bench before the drop of the opening faceoff.
"Hey, Burnsie," I said. "I heard you on TV last night after the game."
"Yeah?" he said. "Well, I got asked a question and so I answered it."
"I saw that," I said. "By the way, you can tell your wife I like the tie she picked out for you tonight, too."
I got the Burnsie smirk again in reply. We both understood that the matter was settled. That's just how things were between Pat and me.
I could tell him he "needs to start coaching" Claude Lemieux because I was sick of the player's diving and he could communicate to me that he didn't appreciate Lemieux's antics any more than I did while still giving the appearance to his bench that he was defending his player. He could usually critique a call pretty vociferously without making it into a personal attack (that's part of why I was initially so taken aback and angered by the Boston incident). The respect factor was never lost, no matter how often or vehemently we disagreed.
Finally, let me also say this. Any player worth his salt understood that Burns was a very good coach and that buy-in meant winning. The man knew his stuff, and his record spoke for itself. He belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Recent Blogs by Paul Stewart
A Debt of Gratitude to the Fog
Officiating Teams and Two-Man Ref System
Unsafe at Any Speed: Hockey Equipment and Concussions
Defending Teammates, the Code and the Human Rulebook
Emery and the Aggressor Rule (Rule 46.2)
Hockey Fights Cancer: My Story
Delay of Game: Good Intentions, Bad Rules
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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 a judicial 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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