Paul Stewart: The Nameless and the Faceless

The NHL is doing a heck of a job hiding the ref's, I no longer recognize any of them.

people don't pay money to see officials officiate. orange stripes for refs are the only identification anyone cares about.

people don't pay money to see officials officiate. orange stripes for refs are the only identification anyone cares about.
- Fountain-San

Do people "pay money" to see unglamorous defensive defensemen and defensive forwards work either? Yet they are still very much integral to the game.

I would like to let everyone know that the NHL and their officials have been very cooperative with our Fan Club. The Washington Capitals Fan Club has a requested every year or so to have game officials speak at one of our monthly meetings and we have always been able to work out a mutual date. These speaking engagements/Q & A sessions have been very informative, well received and fun. It has provided another venue to see the human side one of the people who have one of the toughest job in professional sports. Nice job fellows -- keep up the good work.

Don't recall that lots of new refs coming in was given as a reason for the names being removed from the officials jerseys. Do remember that it had a lot more to do with an acrimonious labour issue.

Now that the CBA is in place, officiating and league discipline has to be the number one universal concern. And based on ongoing feedback from fans, the league is doing a lousy job addressing their problems.

Consistency of suspensions has become a running joke. Spin-doctoring is the only thing consistent about rulings from the 'War room' in Toronto. (Love that label. The people this group is at war with are the fans.) 'Game management' has become a euphemism for the refs doing whatever they can to get every contest to overtime and if at all possible, a shootout. Many games have little if any flow and the competition often seems artificial and contrived.

What do you think are the primary reasons the central league office continues to hold so much control over each and every game rather than empowering officials who've dedicated their professional careers to becoming the best of the best, just as the players have?

Given that more of them should be experienced now, are the crews working the games really so incompetent and untrustworthy that they can't instigate their own 30 second video review in addition to a conference with the other officials to try and get calls correct? The technology is readily available but the will from league is clearly lacking.

What will it take to initiate the needed changes. Can the GM's pass a motion to make it happen or is this a board of governors issue?

Do people "pay money" to see unglamorous defensive defensemen and defensive forwards work either? Yet they are still very much integral to the game.
- Paul Stewart

They do. People pay to watch the players play hockey. They pay to watch teams.
Unglamorous defensive defensemen may drop the gloves or they may shut down top offensive players along the wall, out front, etc. And in today's game the defensive forward is more recognized than ever. Bergeron, Toews and Datsyuk come to mind of course but even guys like, using Boston, Paille and Campbell and what they bring every night? Worth every penny if hard work and guts matter to you.

Any time the officiating is part of the narrative, it's unfortunate 99.9% of the time.

I say this with respect as I thought you were a good official but no one was more excited to go to a game because you were the ref that night, or Kerry Fraser.

Interesting read, Paul, thanks. I appreciate your unique point of view. With that in mind, a quick question for your opinion re the "goal" scored against the Kings that hit the netting above and beyond the glass behind the net: If it's true that none of the officials actually saw it, why didn't the ref stop play when he 'lost sight of the puck?' I don't understand how the ref did not lose sight of it, but not see it go out of play. Any thoughts?

I think many refs in the NHL officiate "scared". They are so afraid of missing the call or being criticized that they often wrongly make a bad call based on the result of the play while ignoring the play itself.

Plays when a stick breaks, clean hits that result on injury, hooking calls that are really holding the stick penalties, it goes on and on.

It has to be somewhat embarrassing for refs to see the replay in the locker room after a game and see that they have been "had" by a sneaky player. Im sure they remember who that player is, but it never seems to change. The same calls always get made.

I miss refs like Kerry Fraser and Stewie, guys who used to have a feel for the game and would officiate, at least what seemed to me anyway, on the feel of the game rather than the letter of the law. They would let them play a little more if it wasn't getting out of hand, and clamp down when it needed to be.

Frankly, I HATE tightly officiated games, ticky tack penalties all over the ice, but what is worse, inconsistent penalty calls, again, depending on results instead of actions.

It gets very frustrating.

I think many refs in the NHL officiate "scared". They are so afraid of missing the call or being criticized that they often wrongly make a bad call based on the result of the play while ignoring the play itself.

Plays when a stick breaks, clean hits that result on injury, hooking calls that are really holding the stick penalties, it goes on and on.

It has to be somewhat embarrassing for refs to see the replay in the locker room after a game and see that they have been "had" by a sneaky player. Im sure they remember who that player is, but it never seems to change. The same calls always get made.

I miss refs like Kerry Fraser and Stewie, guys who used to have a feel for the game and would officiate, at least what seemed to me anyway, on the feel of the game rather than the letter of the law. They would let them play a little more if it wasn't getting out of hand, and clamp down when it needed to be.

Frankly, I HATE tightly officiated games, ticky tack penalties all over the ice, but what is worse, inconsistent penalty calls, again, depending on results instead of actions.

It gets very frustrating.
- MBFlyerfan

the two ref system needs to go.

Hi M. Stewart, I have a question concerning the penalty shot given to Derek Stepan at the outside game against the Devils.

Travis Zajac was called for holding, but on the replay we could clearly see Stepan holding Zajac's stick against him to draw the penalty.

This is cheating, do you think the NHL should give fines for this kind of play ?

the two ref system needs to go.
- Fountain-San

The positives outweigh the negatives.

the two ref system needs to go.
- Fountain-San

Then you would also need to bring back the red line. Impossible to go back to one referee system without the red line in use. Game moves too fast to cover that much territory from end-to-end without the red line to catch up when necessary.

Hi M. Stewart, I have a question concerning the penalty shot given to Derek Stepan at the outside game against the Devils.

Travis Zajac was called for holding, but on the replay we could clearly see Stepan holding Zajac's stick against him to draw the penalty.

This is cheating, do you think the NHL should give fines for this kind of play ?
- MathSphere

Didn't see the play. Do you have a video link?

Interesting read, Paul, thanks. I appreciate your unique point of view. With that in mind, a quick question for your opinion re the "goal" scored against the Kings that hit the netting above and beyond the glass behind the net: If it's true that none of the officials actually saw it, why didn't the ref stop play when he 'lost sight of the puck?' I don't understand how the ref did not lose sight of it, but not see it go out of play. Any thoughts?
- danham92

Referees do not typically look for pucks going up in that particular situation and rely on the linesmen to see if puck went out of the rink. Play continues with no indication from a linesman. Referee then sees the puck come into view-- which could have hit high on the end glass, as far as he knows -- as it pops off the goalie and into the net.

In other words, "referee lost sight of the puck" is something of a catch-all phrase but sometimes it is really an officiating team communication/cooperation matter.

It is such a fast game to officiate with so many possible calls, totally agree it's probably the toughest sport to officiate.

I do think that with the two ref system though the refs don't talk enough to each other. Many calls can be verified or over turned buy the second official., just fue to better positioning. If one ref has a better view of a play they should speak up, and if the the original ref isn't 100% sure he should take the advice of the second ref.

Nice Blog. I wish refs explained calls after a game. That would be interesting to see their perspective. As always its nice to hear a refs view from you though

so the count now is NHL REFS 3 (Fraser,Stewart,Martel)- NHL War Room -1

Why -1?

b/c on tonights telecast, Kris King gave a live interview from the coliseum on TV, essentially lieing to our faces about a puck being directed in by skate isnt a goal.. (and even attacking kerry fraser's take about the call, which was read to him on the air) when the same goal was allowed in the ranger outdoor game the very next night...


nice try..

so the count now is NHL REFS 3 (Fraser,Stewart,Martel)- NHL War Room -1

Why -1?

b/c on tonights telecast, Kris King gave a live interview from the coliseum on TV, essentially lieing to our faces about a puck being directed in by skate isnt a goal.. (and even attacking kerry fraser's take about the call, which was read to him on the air) when the same goal was allowed in the ranger outdoor game the very next night...


nice try..
- HunterRules

I like Kris King. He was an honest and gritty player, and a good guy altogether but he is working for Colin Campbell and must spout the company line as per Campbell, who can't get on TV to talk after the Dean Warren fiasco per orders of the NHLNY. Campbell is so inarticulate, anyway, that he's painful to listen to...uh, well, y'a know, ahh, sheeesh.

Campbell has surpassed the Peter Principle and risen beyond his level of incompetency. Clearly, Campbell is no officiating expert -- and was not all that good of a coach, either.Would that be Murphy's law or Darwin's or his own bosses just keeping someone in a job that will do what he's told? Call it Soupy's Axiom.

Actually, come to think of it, the NHL might have gotten equal or better management of officiating if they had put the late Soupy Sales in charge.

I miss the days of NHL officials with their names on their jerseys. I'm sure that the officials wore that jersey with every bit as much pride as the players who have their names on the back of their jerseys. Doesn't it also add a bit of ownership to their work too? Its easy to hide when #10 is on your back vs when "Fraser" is on your back. Although no one could ever miss his hair cut.
The officials were part of what made this game so unique. Unlike any other game, if you sat close, you could see their faces and actually recognize officials when they returned for another game. It is hard to recognize the faces of the officials in the other sports (Save for football if you are watching on TV).

Fact is, I always appreciated knowing who was refereeing the games. I went to enough games that I knew what kind of game was going to be played when Paul Stewart officiated, vs when Kerry Fraser, vs Don Koharski, vs when Ron Hoggarth was calling the game. Now with the 2 ref system, you aren't really sure what you are going to get, and I go to almost all of the Pens' games!
I think the 2 ref system is a necessity, given the pace of the game. The biggest issue is consistency. If one ref is calling a tight game, while the other lets everything go, you have a problem!

Didn't see the play. Do you have a video link?
- Paul Stewart

Here I found an article discussing it: http://www.nj.com/devils/..._led_to_penalty_shot.html

Here is the video of the penalty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdPLYZ7CHWo

I like Kris King. He was an honest and gritty player, and a good guy altogether but he is working for Colin Campbell and must spout the company line as per Campbell, who can't get on TV to talk after the Dean Warren fiasco per orders of the NHLNY. Campbell is so inarticulate, anyway, that he's painful to listen to...uh, well, y'a know, ahh, sheeesh.

Campbell has surpassed the Peter Principle and risen beyond his level of incompetency. Clearly, Campbell is no officiating expert -- and was not all that good of a coach, either.Would that be Murphy's law or Darwin's or his own bosses just keeping someone in a job that will do what he's told? Call it Soupy's Axiom.

Actually, come to think of it, the NHL might have gotten equal or better management of officiating if they had put the late Soupy Sales in charge.
- Paul Stewart

What a great response

I like Kris King. He was an honest and gritty player, and a good guy altogether but he is working for Colin Campbell and must spout the company line as per Campbell, who can't get on TV to talk after the Dean Warren fiasco per orders of the NHLNY. Campbell is so inarticulate, anyway, that he's painful to listen to...uh, well, y'a know, ahh, sheeesh.

Campbell has surpassed the Peter Principle and risen beyond his level of incompetency. Clearly, Campbell is no officiating expert -- and was not all that good of a coach, either.Would that be Murphy's law or Darwin's or his own bosses just keeping someone in a job that will do what he's told? Call it Soupy's Axiom.

Actually, come to think of it, the NHL might have gotten equal or better management of officiating if they had put the late Soupy Sales in charge.
- Paul Stewart

I knew there was a reason Stewie was my fav ref!

It's always baffled me that players like Campbell and Shanny, regardless of how well or poorly folks think he's doing, were given a position to oversee officiating. Why on earth wouldn't a position like this be offered to Frasier or Stewart?

Mr. Stewart, I wonder was the overall perception amongst officials around the league that Campbell was unqualified? It seems to me, given his well known email fiasco, and other rulings, that he's always been rather incosistent when ruling on infractions. I know this one left a sour taste in Isles mouths when Campbell told us it was 'obvious Mouttau wasn't targeting Nielsens head' (00:43seconds)


It always seemed to me that there might be a bit too much Milbury in Campbell

Mr. Stewart, I wonder was the overall perception amongst officials around the league that Campbell was unqualified? It seems to me, given his well known email fiasco, and other rulings, that he's always been rather incosistent when ruling on infractions. I know this one left a sour taste in Isles mouths when Campbell told us it was 'obvious Mouttau wasn't targeting Nielsens head' (00:43seconds)


It always seemed to me that there might be a bit too much Milbury in Campbell
- keaner17

Why did you have to show that? As long as there are people like Campbell in positions like they have in the NHL the sport will NEVER be taken seriously in this country. Hockey is the only sport I watch and at times it disgusts me just bcs of the blatant BS and bias that exists. How could ANYONE look at that video and say what Campbell said? The guy is still pissed from when he was a Canuck in the eighties. Ridiculous notion? What do you think Mr. Stewart? I bet you I'm not too far off? When you make blatant non-calls it causes speculation and screams unprofessionalism.