Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
We are all capable of greatness. 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.
Despite all of my crazy efforts to unintentionally sabotage myself with some of the stuff I did during my early career games, I made it. Even though I wasn't trying to kill my chances, I had enough close call moments that could fill a book (and they will!).
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 a good 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.
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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 an officiating and league discipline consultant 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. 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.
In addition to his blogs for HockeyBuzz every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Stewart writes a column every Wednesday for the Huffington Post.