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Injuries are part of the game for officials as well as for players. Actually, some of the worst injuries I sustained in my years on the ice happened during my officiating career after I was no longer playing professionally. The 2015-16 season has seen an abnormally high number of in-game injuries for NHL officials.
The risks can be reduced (I'll have more about that later). First, though, let's discuss how an officiating team adapts when one of their teammates goes down and has to leave a game.
This happened twice on Saturday.
In Toronto, Ian Walsh was left woozy, very possibly concussed, after getting caught up in a collision behind the net. His head seemed to hit the glass. Veteran partner referee Kevin Pollock worked the rest of the game old-school style (one ref, two linesmen) with David Brisebois and Scott Cherrey as the lineys.
The same thing happened in Ottawa, where veteran ref Tom Kowall was unable to return after the first period for reasons of illness. First-year NHL full-time referee Trevor Hanson soloed the rest of the game in conjunction with linesmen Steve Barton and Matt MacPherson.
Both officiating teams did a job at adjusting on the fly. The solo referee had to adjust his positioning and the communication among the remaining officials was good. In years past, when all refs were trained under the old one-ref, two-linesmen system, it was not really all that tough to revert to the other style. It's a little more challenging for officials who aren't used to it.
In today's game, I think the NHL should implement a different protocol for handling situations where one referee gets injured. Rather than having one referee work with two linesmen, I think it makes more sense to have the senior linesman serve as the second referee and proceed with one linesman.
Personally, I would like to see officials get cross-trained: in other words, being trained to switch roles when necessary. During my own officiating career, I filled in for injured linesmen on an emergency basis a couple of times -- including in a 1997 Stanley Cup playoff game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia when Wayne Bonney suffered a leg injury in the second period. I had been the stand-by referee for the game. I filled in adequately, but it was certainly not my forte.
In similar fashion, a linesmen should be able to function as a "referee-in-training" when an extra set of legs and eyes are needed. A savvy linesman is capable of being a referee in a pinch, and it would have been more beneficial to the flow of the game (apart from making the night a little easier on the ref -- especially an inexperienced one) if the protocol had been to function as a two-ref, one-linesman team after the partner referee was lost for the game.
In the bigger picture, I also think we in the game need to take a good look at our safety practices for officials. While accidents can happen and some collisions are unavoidable, many are preventable. Safety provisions are coachable. I've put this out before in a past blog about avoiding collisions, but it bears repeating. There are three best practices to follow:
1.
Put safety first. There is no extra hazard pay for getting steamrolled and dangerous situations arise -- for both the official and the player -- when evasive action is needed but not taken.
2.
Trust your partners. If an official has to take preventative action and escape a potential collision, he should have faith that his officiating teammates will come up to cover the call.
3.
It's not "your" line, it's part of the playing surface. The line belongs to the owners of the rink and perhaps the painter who painted it. Officials need to understand that those things on the bottom of their feet are skates. Use them to traverse to where you can see the play and also to be safe.
As officials, our prime directive as officials is to get the call right. An official sitting on his backside or being helped back to the locker room after standing his ground too long is not helping the team. Let me be clear that I don't blame the officials themselves in most cases. I think they need better coaching.
Too often, the lack concern for teaching safety practices to officials comes from many leagues having no one involved in hockey operations who ever officiated at all (or at least have never done so at a high level). Current day officials are good athletes in their own right -- it's a job requirement now -- and these athletes can be trained to make the aforementioned practices automatic parts of muscle memory and also for their partners to read the play and instinctively adjust to the situation to get the right call.
As withe everything in hockey, however, it takes a lot of practice. In some ways, an official has to unlearn the instinct to hold ground no matter the consequence and recognize when he (or she) needs to find a safer spot.
I have said this before and will say it again. Having top-notch officiating teammates can make a good official look great or an average one look good. Honing a system of cross-training our officials can help foster better teamwork.
Everything that I teach and profess in all the Leagues I administer or work in has been learned from others who generously shared of their knowledge and abilities; never for personal gain, but strictly for the good of the game and the advancement of our profession. I get frustrated by the lack of voice bonafide NHL officials are given in steering our own profession in today's game.
Side note: Being privileged to be around so savvy officials is why I also get so worked up about the fact that the knowledge and skills of experienced officials remains one of our sport's most under-utilized resources. These aren't just good officials, they are good hockey people.
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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 at both the Division 1 and Division 3 levels.
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.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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