Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
Best of luck to all players at the 2015 NHL Draft in Sunrise, FL. The NHL Draft is a great event and the young men who earn selections at the draft have a right to feel proud. With that said, the draft is a piece of a bigger journey, and not even an indispensable.
In the six-team era, there was no draft. Since that time, just look through hockey history at the many great players -- the likes of which include Martin St. Louis, Luc Robitaille, Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli, Tim Kerr and many, many others -- who were either late-round afterthoughts or went unselected entirely. Many others went undrafted as 18-year-old and needed a second or third try.
These are the players I can emphathize with, because nothing was ever handed to them. They had to earn it the hard way, one rung at a time.
In my own case, I was never drafted by any NHL team. I was a tryout player in the lowly NAHL and slowly worked my way up to the WHA and, later, the NHL but there were also backward steps along the way. When the NHL held its merger draft with the WHA, I was the very last player taken.
Ultimately, the draft is a footnote. It's longevity that matters and is the real measure of a player's character and perseverance.
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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 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.