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Size of the Fight in the Dog

July 8, 2016, 9:23 AM ET [0 Comments]
Paul Stewart
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The excellent Scouting the Refs website broke a story earlier this week detailing the four new officials the NHL has hired: QMJHL and ECHL referee Pierre Lambert, AHL ref and former collegiate and minor league player Peter MacDougall (a player after my own heart, as he played a similar sort of policeman role to the one that became my niche), WHL and AHL referee Chris Schlenker, and 27-year-old American linesman Ryan Daisy.

My congratulations go out all four men. I wish you all the best of success as you work to advance your careers to the NHL level. All four of the new hires are fine athletes. Sometimes, the general public does not realize just how athletic a modern-day hockey official must be to do it professionally.

As always, I think it's time for a reminder that we have a recruiting crisis in the world of officiating and we need more men (and women) with the right stuff. I also think we need to be smarter in how we value certain criteria.

Over the last 20 years, there has been a trend in hockey to focusing scouting on bigger and bigger players. This is especially true with goaltenders but applies to all positions. While the doors have opened again somewhat for smaller position players -- speedy little wingers and puck-moving defensemen -- there is still a general preference for recruiter larger-framed athletes whenever possible.

The same thing has happened in officiating, where we really need all the qualified candidates we can get. In an ideal world, a prospect has both size and skill. If it's a matter of sacrificing one or the other, though, we should go with the smaller guy with superior ability.

That sounds like a no-brainer, right? But that's not always the case in the real-life way that many leagues recruit and assign officials. I've run into the "bigger must be better" mentality quite a few times, much to my dismay. The belief exists both in North America and Europe.

Example: In my final year that I worked as a consultant to the KHL, we were going over officiating prospects. There was one I liked that the other decision-makers wanted to reject simply because he stands 5-foot-8. Nevermind the fact he was in very good physical condition, skated well and had powerful legs on top scoring well on all the test.

"What do you think?" I asked. "I like this kid. I like his look."

"No," they said dismissively. "Too small."

"He hung in just fine among all the big guys," I said. "He will be fine."

"Too small," they repeated.

I find that mentality a bit frustrating. I don't believe that an official or player should be automatically dismissed simply because of where he stands on a height chart. Look at the entire array of physical skills and mental agility and toughness. If there's an equivalent "big guy," then yes, go with the bigger candidate. If the small guy is better, he's the better candidate.

That particular prejudice was not one I faced during my active career. I stood 6-foot-1 and weighed between 195 and 200 muscular pounds during my playing days. So the size question was never an issue for me. Being an American, yes. Getting a late start as a former player turned official? Yes. But no one could say I was too small physically.

Listen, I worked for years with Kerry Fraser. He's about 5-foot-8 at maximum. Size was never a factor when he reffed. He was a Hall of Fame caliber official. I worked with linesman Ray "Scampy" Scapinello. He was very good at his craft and earned respect. In today's NHL, Kelly Sutherland is one of the more undersized refs but also one of the better ones overall and a tremendous skater.

When it comes down to the bottom line, it's truly the size of the fight in the dog that should matter.

I guess the people who immediately dismiss "undersized" prospects never heard of Ned "the Doctor" Bunyon, who played at BC and reffed for years. When he retired from the ice, he was The Mister Keebler of officiating. Ned kept turning out good officials for many different Leagues, as fast as the Keebler elves churned out tasty cookies.

Giles Threadgold was another bantam at 5'6" but he had panache and command despite his size. My 5-foot-6 grandfather was a U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer. My dad was the same height, and was a highly respected collegiate officials. The Stewarts officiated successfully at all levels in football, baseball and hockey including the top pro leagues in the latter two sports.

Listen kids and all you undersized aspiring officials and players, the next time someone says"you're too small to make it," tell them to save up their money. The next time they see you, they'll have to buy a ticket to get in. That's what I used to tell people who told me I lacked the talent to play and officiate in the NHL. I proved them wrong. So can you.

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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 Eastern College Athletic Conference (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.
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