Follow Paul on Twitter: @paulstewart22
I have noticed something over the years about the Stanley Cup playoffs: During the first round of the playoffs, there is always a lot of controversy about how games are called differently than during the regular season. Thereafter, it fades to the background and the players just play.
The National Hockey League does itself no favors in the way it coaches its officials. By now, even casual readers of my blogs know how much I harp on these two mantras: "the money is at the net" and "positioning sells calls." Yesterday's waved-off power play goal at Madison Square Garden was a perfect case of why I emphasize and re-emphasize these points.
The NHL does not want its referees to risk getting caught up in the play so they are discouraged from going to the net. The result, as we saw yesterday, was a referee got screened from his vantage point by the goaltender and did not see the puck loose the crease behind the goalie before New York tapped it in the net.
Just as frustrating my standpoint is how the NHL beats down its officials. Rather than stressing positive aspects and teaching how to succeed, they only scold when there is the inevitable miscue. It is rule by fear and intimidation.
Old-school coach Vic Stasiuk used to give his team mixed messages. He used to say things like "check but don't check" to his confused players and then holler when they looked disorganized on the ice. It works sort of the same way in the modern era with officials. They are not supported if they make the tough call and they are not supported when take no action in the name "letting the players decide the game."
My view on officiating in the playoffs was the same as it was in the regular season: The League gave me a whistle, and a striped shirt and the responsibility to judge and call the game. To paraphrase Gen. George Patton, if you won't let me judge, why did you pick me to referee the game?
Inevitably, the NHL's answer to me was "Enjoy the rest of the playoffs from home, Stewy."
One of the most common problems I see among many hockey officials -- and this applies to the regular season as well as the playoffs -- is a tendency to officiate by fear. This can result in games either being over-officiated or under-officiated. Of course, neither end result is desirable.
In an over-officiated game, the arm goes up for every little love tap and every time a player gets felled by a clean body check in open ice or that rattles the boards. There are more "reputation" calls than there ought to be. The R2 referee (the one behind the play) might make a delayed call on something that was in direct sight of the R1 referee who was right on top of the play and elected to let play continue. A linesman might be too quick to toss someone out of the faceoff circle for the slightest infraction by a teammate on the ice.
In an under-officiated game, the officials risk losing control because players and coaches catch on quickly that they can get away with just about whatever they please. There's more and more clutching and grabbing. Stickwork increases behind the play. So do the cheapshots after the whistles.
From a linesman standpoint, icing gets called, rather than being waved off, when the very same defenseman who just closed a 10-foot gap on a rush two minutes earlier suddenly starts moving like a giant tortoise while a puck he would otherwise have a chance to play creeps toward the icing line. The same linesman may spend 15 or more seconds trying to get everyone lined up properly in the faceoff circle rather than dumping someone.
Either which way, it's bad for the game. In order to survive in this game, an official MUST be able to make calls without fear. The official can't be afraid of the crowd, the coaches who are trying to get any advantage or players yelling at them for "screwing" their team because the previous two calls have also gone against their side. Likewise, they can't operate in fear of what their supervisors might think if they exercise their judgment and make a controversial call.
Ultimately, those who officiate out of fear end up cheating the game. The flow and quality of play go down the tubes when there are too many unnecessary whistles and endless special teams play at one extreme or lots of diving and obstruction at the other extreme.
Both over-officiating and under-officiating create more diving, because the diver is more likely to draw a phantom penalty in an over-officiated game and, in an under-officiated game, either is trying to embarrass the official (and embarrassing himself, too, I might add) or figures the worst thing that can happen is offsetting minors rather then being sent off alone.
Get the picture? Those who officiate by fear get exploited rather than commanding respect. The reality of hockey is that is a game that is driven as much by human emotion as it is by the letter of the law. What's more. players and coaches are smart enough to detect a fearful official right away. They adjust fast.
Maybe you liked the way I refereed games during my active officiating career. Maybe you didn't. But one thing you have to concede either way is that I was someone who refereed with no trepidation whatsoever. I had confidence in my judgement and hockey sense, confidence in the skills of my officiating teammates and no fear of what players, coaches, fans, the media or league supervisors thought about my methods.
I was someone who was NEVER afraid to make the tough call. I officiated the same way in the third period that I did in the first period. I officiated the same way in the postseason that I did on opening night.
As a supervisor and director of officiating, I have tried to bring my own experiences from on my on-ice career -- both the positive and negative ones -- and to hold my officials accountable every night while also stressing teaching opportunities and talking about things that are done right as well as opportunities for improvement.
Here's my answer to my critics: The ECAC is a small conference, yet ECAC officials are regularly chosen to work the biggest games during the NCAA tournaments. Since 2010, ECAC officials have worked 24.2 percent of regional games and 20 percent of semifinals and championship games in the men's tournament. In the women's tournament, ECAC officials have worked 30 percent of regionals and semis and 25 percent of championship games over that same span.
Maybe just maybe I know what I'm talking about.
This year, ECAC officials Bob St. Lawrence, Chip McDonald, Jim Briggs and Dave Brown were honored with Frozen Four assignments after working two games at regionals. Additionally, Scott Whittemore, Peter Feola, Glen Cooke and Mike Emanation worked two regional games.
I'm proud of the work we've done, and I'm even prouder of my officials.
*********
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.
Stewart is currently working with a co-author on an autobiography.