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I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter, Passover seder or, if you don't celebrate either holiday, a nice spring weekend in April. On Saturday morning, I was a guest on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, talking with Bob Pompeani about an array of hockey topics. I enjoyed the conversation, and I hope the listeners did as well.
During the program, the host talked about the Penguins impending Easter Sunday matinee road game against the arch-rival Philadelphia Flyers. I could not help but think back 20 years to another memorable Easter Sunday showdown in Philadelphia between the Flyers and Penguins. I refereed that game on Easter of 1995.
At that time, the two teams were closely separated near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. This season was the start of a period in which the Flyers and Penguins were both good clubs at the same time, In the Flyers' mid 1970s to mid 1980s heyday, the Pens were usually a downtrodden club. When the Pens built their two early 1990s Staney Cup winning teams, Philly was in the middle of a five-year stretch of missing the playoffs.
Now they were both top contenders in the East, and the atmosphere in the building was tremendous. It had all the feeling of a playoff game.
The Penguins led the game, 3-2, heading into the final minute of regulation. With 49 seconds left in the third period, Pittsburgh's Troy Murray violently boarded a Philadelphia player. It was a clear-cut major and a game misconduct.
With 20 ticks left on the clock, the Flyers' Mikael Renberg scored to tie the game at 3-3.
Philadelphia remained on the power play. Just as regulation was about to expire, Pittsburgh's Ulf Samuelsson, who had already been guilty of one high-sticking infraction earlier in the third period, high-sticked Rod Brind'Amour; leaving him a bloody mess.
Again, the penalty was clear cut. This had to be another major penalty. As such the Flyers had a 5-on-3 power play for virtually the entire duration of overtime. At the 1:30 mark of overtime, a bandaged Brind'Amour scored on the power play to win the game for Philadelphia, 4-3.
As I left the ice, hockey reporter Al Morganti, who was working the game for ESPN, said, "There goes the most popular man in Pittsburgh on this Easter Sunday, referee Paul Stewart."
I probably should have kept walking, but I have an incurable impish streak in me. I stopped, turned to Al and said "Well, if I'm popular in Pittsburgh today, they are REALLY going to love me tomorrow night, because I'm working the game at the Igloo."
The next night in Pittsburgh, I stepped out on the ice shortly before the players for both sides came out. I hear the expected chorus of boos and catcalls. I turned around to look at my linesmen -- my buddy Pat Dapuzzo and fellow veteran official Pierre Racicot -- and realized my teammates were playing a little joke on me.
They let me step out on the ice all by myself!
I circled around the rink, soaking up the "warm reception" from the Penguins partisans. As I passed the zamboni gate, there were still no fellow officials joining me. So I had to go around again for a second round of kudos from the folks near the glass. Finally, the linesmen decided to grace me with their presence.
At any rate, I didn't mind taking heat from the fans in Pittsburgh that night. The two calls I'd made late in the previous game were absolutely the right ones and it was my responsibility to make them. No more and no less.
I've said it before and will say it again: One of the things I loved about being a referee was that I had no personal interest in which team won or lost. Along with my officiating partners, it was my job to keep things fair, hustle and make the right calls to the best of my ability.
Thereafter, we got to leave the building, unwind and enjoy the rest of our night.
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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 is the chairman of the officiating and discipline committee for the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and serves as director of hockey officiating for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials, while also maintaining 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.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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