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Nowak and Cameron Were True Pros

April 7, 2019, 11:45 AM ET [0 Comments]
Paul Stewart
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Two more of my former NHL officiating teammates have worked their final games before retiring: Tim Nowak recently worked his 1,844th NHL game (1,730 regular season and 114 playoff games) while Lonnie Cameron worked his 1,614th (1,554 regular season and 60 playoff tilts).

It was a pleasure working with both Tim and Lonnie. Actually, I refereed Lonnie's debut game (Calgary vs Vancouver on Oct. 5, 1996). Brad Lazarowich was the other linesman. Lonnie, a former junior player for the famed Estevan Bruins, is another good example of someone who tried officiating as a means of staying in the game and officiating became his true calling.

Tim and Lonnie both understood what it takes to do the job of a linesmen, and they were excellent teammates. They made us a better team with their presence. Also, having been out to eat with Tim many times, I can report that he has always had a voracious appetite and yet he maintained a level of conditioning that enabled him to do his job effectively at the highest level of hockey in the world. As one gets older, it's not just a matter of being genetically blessed. It takes self-awareness and work ethic.

In one of my earliest blogs at HockeyBuzz, I wrote about the importance of strong communications among officiating teams. To illustrate the point I told a story about how Tim Nowak and Pat Dapuzzo helped me make the correct call in a tough situation where I didn't see an infraction by LA Kings defenseman Steve Finn in a pile-up scramble around the crease in the third period of a tied game.

During the mass chaos, Finn had deliberately pushed the net off its moorings and may also have covered the puck in the crease with his hand. I initially called just for a stoppage and a faceoff. However, Dapper and Nowak had seen Finn push the post off the peg (a delay of game penalty). None of us definitively saw him cover the puck in the crease (which would have been a penalty shot). Thus, after we talked through the situation and what we could definitively rule on the play, a two-minute penalty was the correct call.

Final thoughts: It's not sad that time marches on. Tim and Lonnie have served the game well as active officials. After retirement, there are new challenges as well as new opportunities to give back to the game that's been so good to all of us.

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A Class of 2018 inductee to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, 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 director of hockey officiating for the ECAC.

Visit Paul's official website, YaWannaGo.com
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