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Espo, Brushbacks and a Good Time for a Great Cause |
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Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Earlier this week, I made a quick trip into Toronto to referee a reunion game of many NHL players and other Russian friends for Sick Kids Hospital hosted by Stolichnaya (Stoli) Vodka, Platts and with Scott MacPherson running the show.
The legend to my right even skated and as some remarked, still has a beautiful skating stride.
Being with Phil, how fortunate that I am to have made my life in Hockey. Between us we had 719 NHL goals. OK, well, Easo had 717 of 'em and I had two. What a combo we made when we were Rangers back in 1976 training camp!
Who can forget Phil's impassioned speech in Vancouver after Team Canada lost to The Russians in game # 4 of The Summit Series in 1972? With the sweat dripping off him, Phil called out a whole country and then put his actions where his mouth was and forged a great series as the teams shifted to Moscow behind the then Iron Curtain.
This week, we played in the rejuvenated third floor of Maple Leaf Gardens. I could hear the long time ghosts of Conn Smythe and My grandfather, 1938 Stanley Cup winning Chicago Black Hawks coach (over the Leafs) and longtime NHL referee Bill Stewart Sr. still arguing vociferously over Chicago bringing in substitute goalie Alfie Moore to play in Game One in Toronto. The argument actually escalated into a fistfight between Grampy and Smythe.
Moore made history that night in Toronto as the Hawks took this AHL goalie (and a Toronto cut at training camp with a subsequent grudge against "that no-good S.O.B., Connie Smythe"), sobered him up on game day and watched him beat the Leafs. The first Toronto shot went in but the Hawks rallied and went on to win 3-1 and eventually The Cup, dishing some payback off to Conn Smythe in the process.
At any rate, Ryerson College uses this rink. On the street level is a Loblaws food store and a health club is on the second...what a beautiful way Toronto saved this magnificent building, a part of Canadian History and Hockey lore.
We had fun later at The Bottom Line hosted by Stoli Vodka, the best vodka in the world (in my ever-humble opinion) and we helped some kids who need to get well at Sick Kids Hospital. It's what Hockey is all about and why I love it so.
Oh, as for the brushback pitch story, here it is: I worked a game in Tampa once where Lightning defenseman Enrico Ciccone deliberately shot a puck at linesman Ron Finn's head. I tossed Ciccone from the game.
Afterwards, Espo, who was the Tampa Bay general manager at the time, came downstairs after the game to talk it over with me. He was already waiting for me in the runway of that awful ballpark rink of theirs.
I was clutching a puck in my hand at the time. When I saw Espo, I chucked the puck in his direction like a baseball knockdown pitch -- with a lot of velocity but deliberately high and a little wide so it wouldn't bean him. Being no fool, Esposito hit the deck.
"Well, how do YOU like it?" I asked. "Still want to know why I tossed Ciccone?"
Espo got the point. He didn't rat me out to the League office afterward. Nowadays, we laugh about that story.
During my time in Toronto this week, I also got to spend some time with Mike Keenan, Doug Brown and Cliff Ronning, among others. Had a blast for a good cause.
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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, he is the director of officiating for the ECAC.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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