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Frozen Four, Donato and More |
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Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Congratulations go out to the Ohio State, Minnesota-Duluth, Michigan and Notre Dame players and coaches for reaching the Frozen Four of the 2018 NCAA Division I championships (April 5-7 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul). May the best team win, and may the flow be with the officials who've worked hard for the honor of working the most prestigious event on the national collegiate hockey calendar.
Even if I were not associated with college hockey on the officiating management side and even if I'd never played for Penn back in my own playing days, I'd have a love for the game on this level. There is nothing to compare with the atmosphere at a college hockey game, especially when it is a clash of rivals. What's more, unlike an NHL game, a family needn't take out a second mortgage to see a single game. You can take a family of four to the game, park, get the kids a souvenir and go out for dinner afterwards for hundreds of dollars less than you'd spend for your average NHL game; and you'll still see some really good hockey in the bargain.
I do not root for any particular NHL team and have not since I pursued a pro playing career and then became an official. However, there are particular players that I follow with interest. I've been tuning in Bruins games of late specifically to watch Ryan Donato play.
Part of my interest is that I've known Ryan since he was a kid and, of course, I also know his dad quite well. Ryan was raised the right way: he's a bright, mature and polite young man without any sense of entitlement about him. However, even if I didn't know Ryan, I'd enjoy watching him play strictly from a hockey standpoint. He's a smart and well-rounded player. While I don't know if he can keep up his early pace (five points in his first five NHL games, including three points in his debut), I do think he is going to be an effective player.
So often, we hear about the things a player can't do. There's a lot of worrying these days about a player's vital stats -- Is he "big enough"? How did he do in the physical testing at the NHL Combine? Is his skating good enough to translate to the NHL (which was a concern I heard about Ryan)? Sometimes it's better to get back to two simple questions: Can the kid play? Does he have the work ethic to learn to compensate for whatever he might lack? If the answer to both is yes, the other stuff can be overcome if it's less than the ideal. If it's no, it's probably not going to matter how big or how fast he is.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of following college hockey, from my viewpoint, is that there are other Ryan Donato types out there -- plus undrafted players who either slipped through the cracks or were simply late bloomers as well as the more highly touted NHL picks such as Casey Mittelstadt. If you are a casual hockey fan who only watches college hockey come tournament time each March, that's perfectly fine. But if you are a fan of the game in general and if you really want to experience a whole different flavor of the sport, I'd suggest that you come out to a game or two next season. I would say "you'll be hooked", but since that's a penalty where I come from, I'll just say that you won't regret it.
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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.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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