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A few years ago, I had a game where a referee didn’t show up. I conferred with the teams and one of the coaches asked if I would referee the game.
I said, "No, I don’t do that anymore. I gave everything I had to give on the rink as an active ref, and there’s nothing left to give."
Do you know what I did? I went to a young official in the stands and gave him the opportunity to referee the game. That’s what John McCauley once did for me. He believed in me and gave me a chance.
As most of you know by now, my NHL refereeing debut came about because I was in attendance at a Bruins-Canadiens game in Boston and referee Dave Newell went down with a ribcage injury. There was no appointed standby official -- ala a playoff game -- so NHL officiating director McCauley told me to go down and officiate the rest of the game.
Under today's two-referee system in the NHL, if one ref gets hurt during a game, the other referee continues to work the game solo with the two linesmen. But what happens if both refs get hurt or ill and are unable to continue.
We almost saw that very situation arise last Thursday when the Ottawa Senators hosted the Bruins. Veteran ref Kelly Sutherland got caught up in a collision behind the net and fell awkwardly to the ice, hitting the back of his head on the ice. Even wearing a helmet, Kelly was shaken up and had to leave the game.
As per the protocol, referee Francis Charron continued as the lone referee along with linesmen Tony Sericolo and Derek Nansen. Later in the game, Charron got struck with a puck an a hard shoot-in by Boston, bearing the brunt of it with his left knee.
He, too, needed medical attention from the trainers. Thankfully, the referee was able to remain in the game. What would have happened if Charron had also been unable to referee after Sutherland had to leave the game? The answer is found in NHL Rule 31.11:
In the event that a member of the League's Hockey Operations or Officiating departments is in attendance at a game where a spare official is present, he shall have the authority to substitute the injured Referee with the spare official.If, through misadventure or sickness, the Referees and Linesmen appointed are prevented from appearing, the League will make every attempt to find suitable replacement officials, otherwise, the Managers or Coaches of the two clubs shall agree on a Referee(s) and Linesman(men). If they are unable to agree, they shall appoint a player from each side who shall act as Referee and Linesman; the player of the home club acting as Referee and the player of the visiting club as Linesman.
No there has not been a situation in NHL history where a player has to act as official, but seeing as how many of them think they know our job better than we do, I'm sure they'd do a fine job (just a little sarcasm there, folks).
Personally, I am a believer in referees and linesmen being able to switch roles when necessary. During my own officiating career, I filled in for injured linesmen on an emergency basis more than once -- including in a 1997 Stanley Cup playoff game between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia when Wayne Bonney suffered a leg injury in the second period.
Likewise, a linesmen should be able to function as a "referee-in-training" when an extra set of legs and eyes are needed. The situation with Sutherland going down was a perfect case in point. Gibbs is capable of being a referee in a pinch, and it would have been more beneficial to the flow of the game (apart from making the night a little easier on Charron) if the protocol had been to function as a two-ref, one-linesman team for the game.
People are now aware that a two-referee, one-linesman system used to be the norm in the NHL until World War II. The current version is just an updated one with two refs and two linesmen. What's old sometimes becomes new again.
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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.