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I read the other day that Crayola will be retiring one of its colors from its classic 24-pack of crayon colors. A hockey official can only work with two colors anyway: black and white. If you're a ref, it's either a goal or no goal. It's a penalty or not a penalty. If you're a linesman, it's onside or offside. It's icing or not icing.
Psychologically, an official has to understand that there many, many shades of gray in our sport; things that dance right on the cusp of what is fair and foul. That's where feel for the game and a recall of the prime directives -- keep the game fair, and keep the game safe -- is critical. In terms of making a call itself, there is no gray. The only classification options are black or white so judgment of the gray areas is crucial within the flow of play.
I always get a chuckle out of the "just call the penalties according to the Rule Book" crowd, who virtually 100 percent of the time have never tried officiating and about 90 percent of the time have little more than rudimentary knowledge of what the Rule Book actually says. Inevitably, these folks be the first to complain if the strictest of rule interpretations was applied to each and every situation. There'd be 30 power plays a game, players constantly flagged for not being properly uniformed and even more would-be goals disallowed because of murky goalie interference rules being erred on the side of strictest possible judgment.
That's not hyperbole. It's truth. If you don't like it, then perhaps you can be the one to do the much-needed rewrite of the Rule Book. I'm not volunteering, as I'd like to preserve whatever bit of sanity I've managed to hang onto after all these years.
What "just call the rules as they are written" really means is apply a 29-team Rule Book that applies to everyone except the team to which a fan (or player or coach or GM) is partisan. That's how it has always been and always will be.
A few readers asked how I would have handled the recent Sidney Crosby spearing and slashing incidents had I been refereeing the game. (Others who completely failed to comprehend what I was getting at despite my having laid out in unambiguous terms that my issues with players compromising safety for comfort with their equipment and the equipment manufacturers not being blameless in this issue were 100 percent separate from whether Crosby deserved to be penalized).
First of all, as a referee, you have to take the temperature of a game. Often, when we see this clips of a particular incident, they are devoid of context. Was this an attempt at payback from something in a previous game or earlier in this game? Has there been a lot of chirping going on? How proactive have the referees been in keeping the game safe and under control? In other words, did this incident spring up spontaneously in the heat of battle or were there precursors.
Either which way, an official needs to be alert and to penalize the guilty player -- Crosby in this case. There was never any sort of "star treatment" in my dealings with players on the ice. I could not care less who it was.
I was also very clear and proactive in my communications. I would have told Crosby, "I'm aware of what you've been doing out there and I'm telling you, I'm going to sit you if you do it." If he'd have cussed me or mouthed off, I'd have said, "Fine, I know where you stand. You know where I stand, too. Don't act surprised, and neither will I."
I understand both plays here: the spear and the slash. The action of one play and of the second are different. From an officiating viewpoint, each are penalties and each are reprehensible. Combined in the same week, I would have a chat with Mr. Crosby and sit him a game for playing in this manner but that's just me. The NHL might not and likely won't. I would say, though, that maaybe Crosby needs a little lesson in humility -- and accountability.
When I played in the NHL, and when I was a young official, the game was a lot more self-policing that it is nowadays. In my playing days, if he sticks me in the cup or slashes me, I'd drive him in the face with a gloved hand (those old-school gloves, besides being much more protective, could do some damage). I left the skill players alone unless they did something sneaky and dirty like that "cup check" spear then I'd pound the guy and pay the fine.
In old-school officiating psychology, a ref was much more likely to say afterwards to the guy who got popped, "You got your shot in, he got his. Now are we done with this?" Yes, that was even if the guy was a star player. Why do you think Bobby Clarke had a cadre of teammates whom Fred Shero expected to keep Clarke protected after he started something?
You think I'm just talking? Ask Dave Lumley. I waited three years to get him after he clubbed me in the face unprovoked at UNH when I was playing for Penn. Now in the AHL three years fast forward, I was playing a game in Halifax, NS. I couldn't believe that Lumley was now on the Voyageurs. There he was, No. 21! My thought, "There is a God!"
I said nothing. Right off the puck drop, I nailed him and knocked him flat.
As he lay on the ice, semi-conscious, I said "remember me?" then I turned and fought his teammates Pierre Roy and Gilles Lupien. Yes, I got tossed and, yes, I got fined. I wasn't making much money, but was worth it. I had a Schooner beer or two and watched the rest of the game.
Times have changed. Players can't do that anymore, and officials don't have the self-policing aspect against which to proactively keep some of the sneaks in line. I was several years retired by the time Crosby entered the NHL but I certainly do think he has a "sneaky dirty" streak in him. Star or not, he should have been sat.
Finally, to those being sarcastic about my point about the slash to the fingers and the part that the gloves play in this, you are once again missing the point. The design of the cup and the design of the gloves are two totally different things. As for the gloves, yes, pro players specify what they want. You know what they want? They want what they are familiar and comfortable with, which is what they grew up using (and often self-modifying until they rose to a high enough level in the sport to where the manufacturer would customize to their specifications). The specifications almost always emphasize comfort.
By the way, for the record, when I played in the NHL and WHA, we played with what we were given glove-wise. Also for the record, even though I am 14 years retired from the NHL, I still get to see what the college players (and, for several years, the KHL guys) use. Guess what? It's fundamentally the same as the off-the-shelf stuff I've bought for my own kids. Those arguing that today's gloves are safer than the ones we played with in the pre-Mario years are uninformed.
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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 ECAC.