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When I played and when I reffed, I had nothing but respect for the game's tough guys. I'm referring not only to the guys who did the same I did as a player -- performing the policeman role to protect the star players and keep the other team honest -- I also mean the guys who played every night with heart and courage for the team.

From my own playing days, I held players such as Terry O'Reilly, Dave "Killer" Hanson, Nick Fotiu and Clark Gillies in high regard. Having played both wing and defense at times during my career, I admired tough defensemen like Barry Ashbee and Jerry "King Kong" Korab.

During my refereeing days, I rarely had a problem with the honest enforcers. Whether it was someone like Gino Odjick, Chris Nilan, Dave Brown, Kelly Chase or Todd Ewen, I usually knew what to expect. Yeah, there was the occasional time when someone like Steve Rooney ( a friend and fellow Bostonian) might "fall out of the penalty box" to get back into a brawl, but it wasn't too often.

The players I could not stand as either a player or an official were the "bluff guys": the sneaky opportunists, stick artists, guys who were all talk and no action, ones who suddenly grew tough when the officials stood between them and a rival or especially when a legitimately tough teammate was on the ice with them. I didn't like the players who showed off for the home crowd and were meek as church mice on the road. I equally disliked players who put in less-than-full effort games during the season under the guise of "saving it for the playoffs."

During my playing days, I mixed it up with dozens of players. When the game was done, all was forgiven and forgotten. Nowadays, long after our careers, I'd gladly shake their hand and share a laugh and a beer. There were two exceptions of ex-players to whom I could not be civil even to this day, and Goldie Goldthorpe is not even among them.

In a past blog, I talked about Bobby Schmautz and his vicious stickwork. I will also never forgive Rick Jodzio for the despicable way he played the game.

When I played for the Binghamton Dusters in 1976-77, Jodio deliberately injured me with a cross-check to the face. I was a mess. He broke my jaw, knocked out eight teeth, left me with a deep gash on my face that I was later told took 64 stitches to close and inflicted a concussion. I stayed in the game (because that was the expectation in those days) but I was completely out of it. Afterwards, I was hospitalized when we got back to Binghamton.

Jodzio was the worst kind of opportunist. On April 11, 1976, while playing in the WHA for Calgary, he charged and cross-checked Quebec Nordiques star Marc Tardif up high and then jumped on him and started pummeling Tardif with punches as he lay unconscious on the ice after hitting his head. Jodzio wound up facing criminal charges and pleading guilty to a lesser assault charge.

About a year after the Tardif incident, I tangled with Jodzio again. This time, he kneed me in the face. After the game, members of the two teams -- myself included -- met up in the parking lot to settle the score.

When I was officiating, there were few players who would sink lower than Claude Lemieux. Go back to the checklist of disreputable traits on the ice, and most of them described Lemieux to a T: diver, opportunist and a player who did not always give 100 percent effort in the regular season. He won Stanley Cups but he had the talent to be equally successful and a more honorable player along the way.

The worst part of officiating with a player such as Lemieux (or, in more recent times, someone like Matt Cooke or Raffi Torres or Zac Rinaldo) on the ice is the lack of a trust factor. You have to keep an eye on such players at all times because they try to pick their spots when the official's attention is diverted or when an opponent is vulnerable.

As an official, these are the sorts of players who caused headaches -- and paperwork on reports to the League office -- for officials. It was rarely the guys who dropped the gloves the most and led the league in penalty minutes. Torres, for instance, had a suspension rap sheet as long as his arm yet never had even a 100-PIM season. That is why PIM totals can be deceptive.

Referees have to have their head on a swivel, anyway, but especially so when the fraudulent tough guys -- the bluff guys -- are on the ice. That doesn't justify reputation calls when they deliver a clean hit -- nor should an official ever "fill in the blanks" if he and his partners do not see an infraction -- but it does mean the players, by their actions, lose the right to the benefit of the doubt when the officials witness something borderline.


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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.

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.