In the National Hockey League, suspensions for abuse of an official are the only category of supplementary discipline that can be imposed by an on-ice official. There is a backstory to this.
In a 1983 game between Chicago and Hartford, Blackhawks forward Tom Lysiak deliberately tripped linesman Ron Foyt in retaliation for being tossed out of the faceoff circle several times during the game, including moments before the incident. Lysiak got a 20-game suspension at the recommendation of referee Dave Newell, which the NHL Players' Association tried to have the rule overturned in court for lack of due process (they succeeded in getting a 10-day restraining order before the suspension was implemented).
After that, the Rule Book was amended to dish out specific supplementary discipline for degrees of severity of abuse of an official. Only the NHL commissioner can change the suspension that accompanies an abuse call made on the ice. No one else gets to review it. In today's game, that would mean an abuse call would go right over the head of my buddies in the Hockey Ops run Department of Player Safety and would go straight to Gary Bettman's desk.
The aftermatch of the Lysiak incident, however, also came at a high price to Foyt. He was fired by the NHL. Ever since than, most officials have been reluctant to invoke abuse-of-an-official calls on the ice. Many more incidents happen than on the ice than find their way to the commissioner. As officials, we strive to be judicious and really do not want to remove players from games unless the level of misconduct crosses the threshold.
A few years ago, there was an incident in which Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov deliberately shoved linesman Ryan Daisy aside as Daisy was escorting him to the penalty box on a minor penalty. Provorov was apparently frustrated by a penalty called on him by the referee behind the net and took the frustration out on the linesman.
The shove was not a violent one, nor was Daisy injured. It doesn't matter. It's still physical abuse of an official, specifically falling under Rule 40.3, and carries an automatic 10-game suspension as a result: "
Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner... without intent to injure, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games".
However, Daisy and the other officials elected to let Provorov slide. The player apologized twice -- the same night on which the incident took place and then again by telephone the next day.
A somewhat similar situation arose recently when a frustrated Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon swung his stick after losing a center ice faceoff and made glancing contact with linesman Michel Cormier.
Basically, the on-ice officials cut MacKinnon a break by calling what happened accidental. It did not look particularly accidental to me. There were clearly no intent to injure but the alleged intended target -- the opposing player -- had already skated away. There wouldn't have been much of a case for a suspension reduction had a 10-gamer been imposed. From a practicality standpoint, though, the officials decided it was much less hassle to say "No harm, no foul" and simply let the matter die.
From there, it was no surprise that the NHL went along with the on-ice officials and NHLOA description of the incident as accidental stick contact. MacKinnon is one of the NHL's superstars, and there was a wide-open door to avoid suspending the player.
My concern with situations such as this and the Provorov incident from a few seasons ago is not that the officials let the players slide. Hopefully the players realize they were lucky not to get suspended and never even come close to doing something again that fits the Rule Book definition of abuse of an official. My concern is the copycat effect at the game's lower level. The number of incidents in which officials have been physically attacked has been on the rise.
"Zero tolerance" is a nice buzzword but it doesn't really mean much if there is NOT, in fact, genuine zero tolerance. It's a slippery slope.
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A 2018 inductee into 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.
Visit Paul's official websites, YaWannaGo.com and Officiating by Stewart.
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