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On Vegas and Why the Finals are the Easiest Round to Ref |
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Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Congratulations go out to the Las Vegas Golden Knights for earning a spot in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in the team's first year of existence. With the exception of the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues in the first year of NHL expansion from six to 12 teams -- back when all the expansion teams were placed in the new "Western Conference" (geographically the designation made no sense) and the playoffs were set up to guarantee an expansion team would reach the Stanley Cup Final -- this year marks the first time that a team has played for the Cup in its inaugural season.
Yes, the 2017 Expansion Draft rules were far more generous to the newly added team than any past Expansion Draft. They had the benefit of being to add "more-than-fringe" players, albeit not much in star-power outside the net, who could be handpicked to fit the style Gerard Gallant wanted to play. Yes, the Golden Knights also started out with the built-in advantage of being the only NHL team virtually unencumbered by the salary cap since they started out with $0 committed on the cap. Thus, they could wheel and deal at will to take on contracts or flip pieces for assets.
All of that is true. Everything was teed up to build an instantly competitive team. Something else that's true is there are 29 other NHL GMs and coaches who will be rooting hard for the Eastern Conference winner to take the Stanley Cup because Vegas outworked and outfoxed them over the past year. They have earned their trip to the Final, plain and simple.
The work of sustaining it long-term will be quite a different challenge. Egos grow, chemistry changes along with the roster, players will come with their hands out expecting big paydays and long-term deals instead of being consumed by proving themselves and staying united behind a common identity. The hunters will become the hunted.
The whole dynamic is going to change, sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning, and there will be brand new obstacles to overcome. That is how evolution works in hockey. In the meantime, the Golden Knights should not be written off by anyone analyzing a potential matchup in the Stanley Cup Final against either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Washington Capitals.
I don't have a personal rooting interest in any series. May the best team win. I will be rooting for good hockey, with good flow and the right calls to be made. The day I switched from playing the game to officiating it was the day that I stopped caring which team won the game and started rooting for the "third team" on the ice.
I have always been of the opinion that the Stanley Cup Finals are the easiest of all NHL playoff rounds to officiate. That is for one simple reason: With so much at stake, players seldom risk doing the sorts of dumb things that lead to needless penalties and/or potential supplementary discipline from the League.
Yes, I know it still happens on occasion. As a rule of thumb, however, the players simply play hockey and cut out the extracurricular nonsense after the whistles and behind the play. The majority of the controversies that arise during the Finals center around whether certain would-be goals should have been allowed or disallowed. This is something that happens all season, of course, but it gets greatly magnified in the playoffs.
The rest of it is usually a bunch of between-game gamesmanship. That sort of stuff keeps the media busy to fill column space and television or radio airtime but has little to no effect on the actual games.
For reasons I have discussed in the past, I never worked a Stanley Cup Final in my 17 years of NHL officiating. However, I worked games in the finals of every other league in which I officiated, including the Canada Cup (I refereed the classic 1987 Final series between Canada and the USSR and it was the best hockey I've ever seen) and the Calder Cup Finals.
As far as this year's playoff officiating assignments have gone, this what I will say. Individually, I am happy for the officials who get the chance to work deep into the postseason and get the honor of working the Finals. I respect them all and wish them well. I helped break in some of these now-veteran guys when they were getting started. A few remain good friends.
Enjoy the games, everyone. This is the time of year that everyone in hockey craves to be part of the action on the ice.
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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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