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Regular readers of my blogs have heard me repeat these three interrelated officiating mantras over and over again, because they are at the root of good officiating at any level of hockey:
1) Positioning sells calls.
2) The money is at the net. Get to the net for the best possible vantage point and don't make a call out of sheer haste. Take an extra moment if you need it.
3) Skate where you need to skate to see what you need to see.
I cannot emphasize these points strongly enough. That's why I repeat them frequently. People may agree or disagree with a close call -- especially one around the net -- but if the official is in proper position, he's got justification and credibility to back up his call.
On plays around the net, there are three useful techniques for a referee to get in the optimal position. They all involve skating rather then being stationary.
I call the first technique the Accordion move. Picture the bellows of an accordion and the way it expands outwardly before retracting. From the back boards to the area around the net, the official can move in a similar fashion.
The second technique is the Telescope move. A telescope zooms in and zooms out. This can be done in a straight line that runs closely parallel to or along the goal line from the side.
What about if the referee is one side of the net and the play needs to be better seen from a vantage point on the third side. That's where the third technique, the Banana Move comes in. As the name implies, the technique involves making a curve-around toward the other side.
In all cases, a referee should not make the call from a stationary position in the corner. The NHL and other leagues put more emphasize on the referee "staying out of the way of the play" but when it happens, it greatly increases the risk of a missed call at the net. It's just flat out bad coaching.
People have asked me what I thought of the call in the final minute of the New Jersey game in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Referee Tom Kowal had a good vantage point, and the Philadelphia player (Scott Hartnell) was not forcefully pushed by the defenseman (Anton Volchenkov) into goaltender Martin Brodeur.
Both Hartnell and Volchenkov made accidental contact with the goalie after jostling as they went to the net. There is no doubt that it was the contact that pushed the goaltender's pads and the puck into the net.
The part that is disputed is whether it was the New Jersey player or Philadelphia player who made the initial, main contact that knocked Brodeur backwards and the puck into the net. Kowal ruled it was Hartnell who made the main contact and that looks like the correct call from some of the camera angles on the replay. From another angle, though, it looks like Volchenkov's skate was what knocked Brodeur back and the Hartnell contact was incidental.
Either which way, the official has to make that determination in a split second. Kowal had a good vantage point to sell the judgment call,. Hartnell did make contact and wasn't pushed directly into the goalie and it is not a reviewable play anyway for the Toronto TV Watchers.
Add all those things up and I think Kowal made a gutsy call that was justifiable based on his positioning. He was right there to see the play and to make a virtual 50-50 judgment call.
Either possibility (goal or no goal) was bound to rile up whichever side came out on the unfavorable side. That's life as an official.
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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 first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Today, Stewart is an officiating 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. 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.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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