Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Not every officiating candidate who walks through the door is going to meet every part of the ideal checklist for the job. Some prospects take a little more personal attention, sanding, priming and painting to get the young official, the way he/she should look and perform.
To find talent, you should begin with former players. Recruit them as their learning curve will be smaller regarding hockey sense.
For every 10 new people you try out, if you get two -- one linesman and one referee -- you will be doing well. Among 100 people trying officiating for the first time, if you get 3-4 referees and 4-5 linesmen, consider it a success.
Officiating is a career opportunity and an opportunity to stay in the game find another way for them to make some money. A very small number may eventually get to work in the AHL, KHL, Olympics or even NHL -- levels that most officials even at those levels usually never would have reached as a player. The Paul Stewarts and Dean Mortons who both played and officiated in the NHL are a negligible number in history, and just as the best players don't always make for the best coaches the same is true with officials.
Ideally, an officiating candidate should be both big and a superior athlete. If one has to be sacrificed, go with the best athletes. Do psychological testing on them. For example, are they type A personality that manifests in being mean and territorial bullies or type A that are natural leaders and great thinkers. Go after people that have the personality who are more likely to host a party vs just going to a party.
Watch out for those with off-ice issues. I've seen too many people in this sport who had a lot going for them on the surface but self-destructed with alcoholism or gambling or other issues.
Do background checks and be aware that sometimes problems may not present right away. I believe in second chances but it gets to a point where giving third and fourth chances are simply not a practice, no matter how much you may like someone personally or see their talent on the ice
Bottom line: A referee needs integrity so that the game is what they are loyal to: black and white, right and wrong, fair and foul, yes and no.
Returning to my original statement, not everyone is going to fill out the checklist. The areas that are non-negotiable in today's game are the athletic ability, integrity and work ethic. The rest can be coached, and will usually have to be.
I speak from heaps of personal experience here. When I started the transition from playing to officiating, my nickname might as well have been "Sushi" instead of "Stewy", because I was as raw as raw could be.
Despite all of my crazy efforts to unintentionally sabotage myself with some of the stuff I did during my early career games, it was never about integrity or putting anything but the game first. Even though I wasn't trying to kill my chances, I had enough close call moments that I could not have blamed my mentors if they lost patience with me.
Whenever I had one of my slipups, John McCauley would find me, tap me on the shoulder, send me a note, call me or otherwise get my attention to get me back on track. John once told supervisor John Ashley -- who was convinced that I would not make it to the NHL as an official -- that getting me to be a good referee was the way that John would show everyone that he was a Hall of Fame teacher just as he had been a Hall of Fame referee.
"Make him an official," McCauley said to Ashley on more than one occasion.
I am certain I aged Ashley in his efforts. There were backward steps and stress and times where Ashley seemed almost ready to give up on me. Every time, McCauley talked him down. Eventually, the things that McCauley and Ashley taught me sank in and I put them into practice. Along with Frank Udvari, these were the guys who took me and made me into an NHL official.
Nowadays, it my my responsibility to pay it forward. I tell coaches and all those who will listen that all officials should travel with a flag man and orange cones in their referee bag. In other words, all referees are under construction and are an ongoing work in progress..
Even now, when I see myself on NHL broadcasts from the good old days, I find myself watching with a critical eye on my positioning, penalty selection, what I let go and what I have called and all around, how I was looking in that game. In fact, after my last game at Boston, my 1010th and final NHL game, I watched the tape that night at home. I found myself thinking about how I could have been better.
Now as a coach of officials, I tell referees to count to three before they stick their arm in the air: Llook at the act and then have a feel for the result.
A great referee will develop that "stroke the hair" move when his arm goes up a bit quickly and he catches himself. That was something I could do back in the day as I wore no helmet. Nowadays, pretending you caught a rut and trying to catch you balance might be how you get your hand down once you start to get it up and suddenly realize that it would be a horsechip penalty.
As a teacher, I prefer the count to three method, a dab of crazy glue on your pant leg, thus giving the referee a second or two more to filter what they have seen and then firmly decide if they need to call it a penalty. YOU need to think and have the guts to make the call or not make the call. Afterwards, and for all time, you own your decision.
You would be surprised how often I left rinks with a headache from the concentration that I had to use during the game. People were quick to tag me with that label of "he's being the show." I resented it then and I still dislike it to this day. I am the first to own up to my flaws but this particular criticism is both untrue and unfair.
I may have needed six orange cones some nights BUT I gave you all I had out there and all I cared about was trying to do the best job I could do. My personality was -- and is -- aggressive and exuberant but I care about this game too damn much to do anything to intentionally take away from it.
Today, I try to teach young officials to be better. I you wonder why I hang onto some people in stripes when so many others think I should send them on their way, here's why: Maybe I see a little of me in that young one and I hear the voice of John McCauley talking to John Ashley and now whispering to me, "Make him a good official."
Just keep that flag man and the orange cones handy and remember: Some seeds take longer than others to grow.
************
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 • 
Join the Discussion:
»