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I hope all of my readers are enjoying their Memorial Day, and equally hope that we can all take a moment to thank those who risked or sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms that make the United States and Canada great nations.
Also, before I begin with today's blog topic, my condolences go out to my old friend and on-ice rival, Terry O'Reilly, after the recent tragic passing of his 34-year-old son, Evan. Additionally, the hockey world recently lost Bob Sullivan, Jim “Red Eye” Hay, Bill Torrey and Larry Kwong (the NHL's first Chinese-Canadian player).
On a happier note, congratulations go out to NHL referees Wes McCauley, Chris Rooney, Kelly Sutherland and Marc Joanette as well as linesmen Derek Amell, Greg Devorski, Matt MacPherson, and Jonny Murray for being names as the officials in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.
All four refs have worked at least one previous Cup Final, and this will be sixth straight year that McCauley is working the Final. Sutherland is going for the sixth time and fourth straight year. My fellow Bostonian, Rooney, is going for the third time and first since 2013. Joanette worked the Final in 2008. This year will be the first Final in nine years that ref Dan O'Halloran will not be there. One of the deans of NHL linesmen, my old buddy Brian Murphy, worked each of the last three but will not be there this year. MacPherson, now in his 7th NHL season, will be working the lines for the first time in the Cup Final.
These guys are all vets and good officials, so they know the deal. As the Stanley Cup Final is set to begin, we hear the same drumbeat that we do each and every year regarding that age old perplexing question: where, oh where, can we find consistency?
It's like the fountain of youth, Atlantic or the world's best slice of pizza. It's like little Fievel Mousekewitz singing "Somewhere Out There." Maybe my brother and sister officials and I will find it... someday, somewhere.
Now I've a question: How do we define consistency in the first place? "Absolute consistency" is an unattainable target but one we consistently should try for.
Since the Rule Book in and of itself is a sloppy, inconsistent, self-contradicting and mercurial document, here's what we should be striving for: Officials allowing the game to be played without over-judging and oppressing the flow and spontaneity of the game.
I am so fatigued by the people who pontificate about needing rule enforcement with a blanket approach. I hear what they say and read what they write about officiating and their knowledge of it, and it leads me to believe that either I know nothing or they're full of it. Oh, and back to that word "consistency": Consistent with whom?
I was consistent with myself every day I pulled on those skates. I consistently officiating the same way: believing in flow, hustling to be in the right position, putting that night's game above all else going on in the league or elsewhere in my life at that moment. I had pride in myself and in my performance. I never wanted to let my Dad, Grandfather, John McCauley, or Scotty Morrison down... or a few others like Ashley, Udvari, Van Deelan, LeBlanc, who taught me how to ref.
Listen folks, no two games are the same even if the same two teams play them. The playoffs show that time and time again. Even when they play in the same city in back-to-back games or on back-to-back games, every game shapes itself differently.
Some will then mention "referee statistics." J H Christmas, the only thing I want consistent is that the games are played in 2 hours....with TV. Impossible, you say? I agree.
Some nights, guys are tired, their wife bitched at them, they had a blister, a hangover, a groin pull or the ever famous "upper-body injury" that wasn't there last game. So take your consistency thing and sell it to someone who has actually officiated this sport. But you won't sell it to me, because I ain't buyin'. Be consistent with yourself.
A few weeks ago, we had an AHL game that went 5 overtimes: six hours, six minutes from opening faceoff to game-winning goal in sudden death. Let's marvel at the players, yes, but let's also not forget that there were four guys on the ice -- the two refs and the two linesmen -- who were skating the entire duration of the night. That is quite the feat of endurance. I defy anyone who thinks officials are lesser athletes than players to attempt what they accomplished by the necessities of the job.
In the bigger picture, we still need more great athletes to become officials. Llet's recruit more officiating candidates and make the pool larger with more ex-players both on the men's and Women's side. More people give them a chance to make money and us to have more and better people to take on the challenge of the game.
Lastly, is there some company out there to sponsor me to go around the States and Canada to educate all the Hockey gurus, the fans and all the experts who just bought their first ticket about officiating. I'll shares the nuances and inside "secrets" that really go on in the game.
We listen to Mike Milbury and Jack Edwards, we listen to Don Cherry and Regis McGuire. We realized we either know nothing about the game or else these folks that never reffed a game but are experts in their own minds maybe aren't such authorities after all. It's disservice that we don't invite to the table people with experience in the least-understood aspect of the game. Hell, some even call the officials the "third team" on the ice.
It's time to open up the vaults, communicate and educate. After all, we are talking hockey here, not Pentagon secrets. I'll close this blog where it began: Thank you to all the men and women who, lest we forget, paid the ultimate price and that enabled each and every one us who played or officiated professionally to realize our dream of making a living in a child's game.
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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 serves as director of hockey officiating for the ECAC.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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