In a place that history has never forgotten, there was a Mecca for sports and political gatherings that strained the limits of the building past reasonable expectations. Madison Square Garden at 48th and 8th Avenue was The NY Home of Tex Rickard's NY Rangers, just this side of Hell's Kitchen....rightly so.
From the furthest seats in the highest reaches, when their Professional Hockey team played, with dim lights hanging over the ice, the New York Rangers toiled away in the original 7 Team league......Yes, 7 teams, including The New York Americans who shared the venue waiting on their rink in Brooklyn that would take nearly 90 years to be built.
One of the constant reminders that this was a rink and not Carnegie Hall was the humming of outside traffic, the echoes of subway trains and the muffled voice of the game announcer that fans tried to hear when Penalties, Goals and Assists were announced.
As the years went on, fans were simply not supplied with all the game facts. Little could be heard or understood only depending on the Garden's decrepit sound system. And then, inspired by a native New Yorker, who as a boy had sat in these same Garden seats watching his Hockey heroes play in that dark and echo filled stadium, a simple solution was started.
It was left to a former minor league, Eastern league player whose playing career was finished after losing the sight in one of his eyes. Player turned referee, native New Yorker Bill Chadwick, with league approval, decided to start using hand signals for his penalty calls to help his brother and sister New Yorkers grasp all that was happening in his games. By signaling penalties and goals with a new Hockey set of hand semaphores, Bill and The NHL found a way to let the uninformed become more deeply involved in their game.
Like communication at sea between ships, a tradition was born. This tradition of hand signals from the referee would last for nearly 45 years until NHL Referee in Chief John McCauley took a rookie referee, yours truly, aside at a New Jersey Devil Exhibition game. He handed me a wireless microphone. With specific directions, I was told to announce every penalty after I made the call right from where I was standing on the ice.. There was also instructions to wait for the players to clear my area so that no colorful language was heard while I was making my announcements. Why me I asked? "You're not shy" was John's response.
After Referee in Chief John McCauley passed away tragically in 1989 at a young age, many of his innovations including the offside tag up rule were shelved until the present Commissioner, Gary Bettman upgraded The NHL and brought it into the TV age and the modern era.
John McCauley should be a candidate for the Hockey Hall of Fame for all of his innovations to the rules and the game.
All Officials are now wearing microphones and making announcements for penalties and goals while standing squarely on the ice. The tradition of informing the fans, started by Hall of Fame Referee Bill Chadwick and then implemented by John McCauley had now been upgraded in the modern era of flat screen TV's and high def cameras.
Fast forward to a recent Bruins game where two players, after a spirited fight on the ice were sent to the box. The on ice Referee, Wes McCauley, ironic that it is Wes, because he is the son of the late John McCauley, made the announcement with zest, passion and a bit of showmanship. That everyone has been talking about his quick but enthusiastic, "5 for Fighting," only confirms what others have known for a long time.
We have moved in our sporting games from competition to showmanship. There are so many games, so many reasons to not remember a specific game, that Wes' little bit of flair added some pepper to this gumbo we call the NHL. Referee in Chief Stephen Walkom even supported Wes' style in making the call with style by saying that he felt that Wes just added to the flavor of the game. That there was no real signal for fighting, made up by Bill Chadwick those many years ago, only validates what Wes did in this game...BRAVO....and now you know the real story behind this game's story.....The Show Goes On....
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
Join the Discussion:
»