Paul Stewart appears courtesy of Officiating by Stewart

When Brandon Sutter of the Carolina Hurricanes was recently demolished in a center ice check by Doug Weight of the Islanders, it touched off a maelstrom of conversation and outrage that “Hits to the Head” were allowed in the Professional Game of Hockey. After all, it was argued, the inability to of those in the Professional game to control this type of dangerous and reckless behavior would trickle down to all other levels of the game. “THEY” must do something about it.

The question remains, exactly, who are “THEY”?

Are “THEY” not us?

Do we not have to look at the entire history of hitting to understand that what happened to Huricane’s Sutter?

For as long as the puck has been round, the debate between those that understand the game of Hockey and those that think they know something about the game has always centered on the VIOLENCE that the game allowed. After all, The NHL is the only League that condones fighting and seems to actually reward those that fight. From there, the mandate from Coaches to players, regardless as to whether the players are naturally inclined is to demand that they “finish their check.”

With the inclusion of players from many new Leagues and Countries, the natural selection process and the acquired education that a player learned as he stepped into the faster pace, no holds barred game of North American Professional Ice Hockey was not acquired. “Keep your head up” was the first thing that was learned as College and Junior players transitioned to the Pro’s.

With face masks, poor coaching and younger players being thrust into the NHL, the stuff that we of the older generation saw as an anomaly became a norm. Hits to the head with sticks and elbows, hits from behind into the dasher or the net, running the goalies in order to invent scoring chances, more and bigger equipment, all of these factors started to show as players started to get seriously hurt. Where players used to police themselves, where players on your own team actually got on you for bad hits, where agents now rule, the game has changed. Who do we turn to for some relief or justice?

The VP of the NHL, Colin Campbell is in a precarious spot. Does he suspend, fine or ignore when a player takes an action that is reviewed and found to be dangerous even if not penalized during the game? Will these post game reviews make the players less likely to play the game physically? Would taking hitting out of the game translate into a style of Hockey that might lessen attendance? Will the game change to that point that no one will want to play never mind watch?

We used to police ourselves. If a guy hit my guy, we used to file it and wait until we played again and then our justice happened. We did not have to worry about an instigator penalty. Tough guys actually kept it fair and safe for clean play. We had a code and we policed ourselves. Like the Shot gun driver on the Stage Coach of the old west, those days are done. Hockey is now a game that parents organize everything, oversee everything. The spontaneity of young people playing shinny on the ponds is gone with the advent of 12 month Hockey and the multi sheet Sportsplex. Is it better? That answer belongs to the future and the style of the game in distant days ahead.

It is my belief that Coaching and Officiating has not kept pace. We have too many Coaches who don’t teach that checking and hitting are not supposed to be punishment. Every time you have a chance to bump a man, it should be to try to separate them from the puck. It should not to try to level the opposing player and knock them out of the game.

Officiating is not where it should be because the abuse those young Officials have to take from Coaches, parents and fans makes the survival rate very small. We need more former players to Officiate. More numbers of qualified candidates’ increase the chance that we get Officials who can actually know and feel the game.

We need Coaches to actually attend Officiating Clinics and then to Ref a game to see how difficult it is. We need players at all levels to understand that by illegally checking or sticking their opponent, they not only eliminate the opposition, they potentially eliminate themselves from playing because they are dangerous and not good for the game or their own self.

From the hit on Sutter by Weight, we have now gotten neck deep in a complex question….my advice to Mr. Sutter and all others who play the game….Keep your head up, wear your helmet and mouthpiece correctly and respect your opponents.

“If they did it to you and you would be angry, then that’s a penalty.” Advice from Hockey Hall of Fame Official, NHL Supervisor Frank Udvari to NHL Officiating Candidate Paul Stewart at his first AHL game in 1984 in Springfield, MA.

- Stewy

Paul Stewart
WHA / NHL PLAYER (RET)
NHL REFEREE (RET)

Paul Stewart appears courtesy of Officiating by Stewart

Paul Stewart appears courtesy of Officiating by Stewart

In 1978 The Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA were scheduled to play their first preseason game against the Indianapolis Racers. Yet another, yawn, preseason game except for the fact that similar to people who remember where they were when Pearl Harbor was bombed, when President Kennedy was assassinated and when the planes hit the twin towers on 9/11, this game had a special moment that reverberated not only through Hockey but in my life as well.

Pat “Whitey” Stapleton, a former teammate, was both Coach and General Manager of the Racers. That summer, Whitey had called me about signing to play for him and the Racers. It seemed that Indy was about to sign some new WHIZ KID who would turn there Hockey World and the World Hockey Association into a huge success. There was a number of signings of 18 year old players that summer in the WHA especially in Birmingham by John Bassett, owner of the Bulls. Players like Rick Vaive, Mike Gartner and Mark Messier certainly became household words as their careers both in the WHA and the NHL blossomed. It was, however, a skinny kid in Indy who eventually turned the entire world into a Hockey watching, Hockey playing, Hockey excited tide that continues to this today.

“Hey, Stew Cat, come on over here, I want you to meet someone”…that was Whitey talking as he brought me into the neutral area under the stands near the Zamboni.

“I want you to meet Wayne Gretzky, the guy that someday will be one of the best that ever played!”

“Hello MISTER Stewart”, said this young, skinny looking kid standing in front of me.

“Do me a favor, call me Stewy….I am told I might be calling you MISTER pretty soon….”

“Whitey tells me that tonight is your first game in the Pro’s…Good Luck with your career….but do me a favor…play the game and don’t be a stick man…I don’t like guys who use their sticks and then run and hide….Play clean and hard you won’t have any problems with me….”

Of course, you should know that I had averaged over 250 minutes in penalties in my first three years in the Pro’s.  I was no stranger to fierce Hockey, fighting most of the tough guys, during those rambunctious years of the ’70′s.

In fact, when Whitey couldn’t sign me to play for The Racers, He inked former IHL tough guy Willie Trognitz to come over and mind the knitting. I had actually signed with Lou Nanne and the North Stars of the NHL but asked to be released from that contact after the Stars and The Cleveland Barons merged their teams. I didn’t want to go to training camp in Minnesota and fight my way through two teams for a job. So I opted for a return to Cincy and the WHA.

This Exhibition game was played in Dayton, Ohio, half way between the two cities. It was a pretty good crowd considering the size of the rink.

I hope those that attended the game made note of what they were witnessing. More likely, they didn’t even know what they saw.

In the game, Gretzky showed a little of what was to come. Mostly, he was new and young. I wondered aloud from the bench if he had a note from his parents to be out that late?

Certainly, the curiosity of the game from our bench was how he would handle the traffic and the hitting. We all watched closely and funny, I don’t recall anyone running him over or out the arena door. The only noteworthy hit of the night was when Willie Trognitz fell over Hugh Harris and injured Hughie’s knee. Hugh never played again. Hughie took his settlement money and bought a Pizza Parlor. Hughie and his wife “Big Sal” moved to Indianapolis where he lives to this day making pizza.

That was the first of many times that Wayne Gretzky and I would be on the ice together. Changes would come for both of us…different cities, different leagues, different roles on the ice…But like any vivid moment, who Wayne was and what he was about to become for all of us made that night in Dayton one for my memory book.

- Stewy

Paul Stewart
WHA / NHL PLAYER (RET)
NHL REFEREE (RET)

Paul Stewart appears courtesy of Officiating by Stewart