The Final Call (43 page)

Whenever I read a book I am often guilty, like most everyone I’m sure, of simply skimming this section, perhaps looking for a familiar name or else passing over the acknowledgements entirely. Who ever really reads a seemingly endless
thank you
list posted by the author, other than those that expect to be gratified for some form of contribution?

Trust me, from now on I will read every line and every name that the author deems worthy of appreciation. I now understand that without the time, talent, and support of many special individuals, even a seasoned author’s creation would never go to publication. I sincerely hope you read this to the end and join with me in acknowledging the special people who made this project possible. If you like the book, you have them to thank – if you hate it, then blame me for missing my final call because it truly wasn’t their fault!

The first toot of the whistle goes to my biggest critic and adversary when I arrived in the NHL as a referee, but who ultimately became my friend, The Hockey Maven, Stan Fischler, who inspired me to read and write as a young boy through the many books he wrote about my hockey heroes. (I can’t wait for Stan to critique me as an
author
.) Next, an apology to the many English teachers
I frustrated for taking up space in their class as I daydreamed about making it to the NHL. But more important, thanks to all of those teachers for occasionally bringing my mind off the ice rink and back to some form of creative thinking that proved invaluable to writing this book; especially thanks to Mr. Ken Ayers (grade 7) and Mr. Jim Capes (grades 9-10).

I am most grateful to my dear friends and outstanding lawyers, Tom Curry, Monique Jilesen from the firm of Lenczner Slaght, and Jordin Atin at Hull & Hull, for their loyal support, friendship, and guidance when the publisher of the original hard copy edition of
The Final Call
fell on hard times and declared bankruptcy. I likewise wish to thank Steve Mountain, founder of Cornerstone Management, for picking up the ball and negotiating a rebirth of this book with McClelland & Stewart in an updated trade paperback and electronic release.

I am deeply indebted to my father, Hilt, and my mother, Barb, for providing a loving home to shelter and nurture the varied talents my brother, Rick, and I acquired. They introduced us to and coached us in the game of hockey where we both were able to earn a living. To my valued and respected friends over the years from the NHL, beginning with Frank Udvari for discovering me, Scotty Morrison for giving me a chance to succeed, and John McCauley for his undying friendship and mentoring; to Mr. Clarence Campbell, John Zeigler, Gil Stein, and Brian O’Neil, Bill Daly, and Brian Burke for whom I developed the greatest respect. Thanks to every team owner (past and present) who provided the ice for me to skate on, the officiating supervisors who coached me, my colleagues on the ice who I broke a sweat with and who stood beside me through the many challenges and rewards the game had to offer; to Benny Ercolani, league statistician, and to all the unsung heroes in the NHL offices that I am proud to call my friends; to every NHL security representative that provided me protection and friendship; and to the team management (general managers, coaches, scouts,
and trainers) that security sometimes protected me from, but most often for your professional support and conduct. The loudest cheers go to all the players that I encountered during my career. Each of you ultimately made this book possible. You are the game in the present as well as the historical form, and it has been my distinct honour to skate on your frozen pond. Finally in this category I must recognize the hockey fans – even those that love to hate me! Without you this great game would be a relatively meaningless game of shinny. You hold us and the game accountable through your voice.

The very
best
of accolades I have saved for Kathy, who is my partner in all things and best friend in life. She not only supported me through my career, but also in the writing of this book. As Kathy listened she drew the best stories from my vast archive of memories, made key suggestions, provided research, and became my home editor, always bringing me back to centre ice. When I worked around the clock in often-failed attempts to meet the publisher’s deadlines, Kathy coached me and cheered me on when the task seemed overwhelming for a rookie author. I flat out could not have completed this book without her.

I want to thank each one of our children and grandchildren for their love, support, and understanding when I was locked away writing for days at a time. I would also like to thank our youngest daughter Kara for her assistance and input. Kara is the true writer of the family, and once she completes her studies in English at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, you will be reading one bestseller after another by Miss Kara Fraser.

And now a message to you, the reader. I sincerely thank you for picking up this book. It has been a labour of love for me from start to finish. I hope that you enjoy the book and I look forward to your comments and reviews. Hopefully we will get the chance to meet in person when I visit a city near you. In the end you, the reader, will make
The Final Call
.

The theme of the first chapter was “Holding On”—holding on to a thirty-plus-year career that was about to end, holding on to a career that had become my identity, holding on to a puck, because if I let it go the end would only come faster. I’m sure this feeling isn’t foreign to anyone who has spent the majority of their life doing a particular job, especially one that they loved. But how do you let go when the game continues to hold on? This is the question I face now, one year after officially stepping off the ice. Not that I’m complaining. After writing the words of the final chapter, I snapped my laptop shut with a sense of peace and an exclamation of “At last!” I felt I could become the full-time family man I had always missed being, and that’s how it started. Kathy, our kids, grandkids, and I all went to Aruba to reconnect and to celebrate my retirement. It was restful, fun, and just how I imagined post-retirement would be. But the proverb “God laughs when you make plans” couldn’t have rung truer when I set out on my new controversy-free, NHL-less life; I remain, as ever, the firestorm-starting official.

A few weeks before the release of this book in October 2010, I got an unexpected call from a very dear friend, Tony Mariconda.
He has been a long-time U.S.A. Hockey Atlantic District Referee-in-Chief. He called to ask if I would be willing to speak at the Ice Hockey Summit: Action on Concussions, on the discussion of “Zero Tolerance for Concussions and other Neurotrauma in Ice Hockey: Rationale for Collaborative Action” at the Mayo Clinic. I was honoured but also astonished. Caught up in the near-release of my book,
The Final Call
, I could hardly believe that this immense opportunity had presented itself. For over four years I had had reservations about the direction hockey hits were taking and the NHL’s reaction, or lack of, to them. To be able to speak candidly at this international event along with immensely knowledgeable doctors, geniuses in their fields, was an honour that I couldn’t pass up. They wanted a referee’s perspective, someone whose voice would be heard. Having seen players’ careers ruined by what were termed “legal” hits and having to call it “clean hockey” as an official, I went prepared to speak out against the NHL’s handling (or mishandling) of increasingly dangerous head hits and the traumatic effect it would have on the game and players alike if it continued.

My presentation was to centre on rule enforcement. The top medical specialists in the field of brain trauma were also presenting their findings from extensive research they had done on hockey-related concussions and head injuries. I knew this had become a serious problem in the NHL, but had little factual medical knowledge of how much damage these concussions could do, not only to a player and his career, but to his quality of life after hockey! I listened to Dr. Michael Stuart, the father of three NHL players (Mike, Mark, and Colin) and many esteemed others who described the trauma to the brain and its often long-lasting effects, both physically and emotionally, on the injured player. I heard Jim Johnson, a former thirteen-year NHL veteran defenseman who played in 829 career games, describe how devastated his life had been following a career-ending concussion suffered while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes. He cried as he described being asked by his wife to go
pick up his two children (ages seven and four) from school. On his way home, Jim received a telephone call from his wife saying that his little four-year-old daughter was safe with her teacher but was still waiting at the school for him. Jim had picked up one of his two children but had totally forgotten the youngest child. Tears welled up in my eyes as he described the struggle for him and his family in trying to cope with such an altered life.

My presentation was titled “The Role and Responsibility of the Hockey Referee: Keep it Safe—Keep it Fair—and Change the Culture of Acceptable Behavior.” I spoke in the last time slot of the day and proceeded to take the National Hockey League to task over their inaction on this issue. While I commended them for crafting Rule 48 to address blindside hits to the head (largely as a result of Matt Cooke’s devastating head hit on Marc Savard), I expressed my opinion that it fell short of the mark due to the League’s position that north-south hits to the head (frontal lobe contact) were still considered legal. As a referee, I felt it was one of my primary functions to maintain a safe environment for the players. Policing the game is always a challenge. The ref has to allow for an entertaining flow while keeping the game fair under the rules. We have all heard and seen the “let ’em play” philosophy that can result based on the score and time of a game, but what this approach really means is “let ’em cheat.” When the ref’s whistle is put away, players are rewarded for breaking the rules, and the landscape of the game and potential outcome are altered. Under the guise of
allowing the players to decide the outcome of the game
, infractions deserving of a penalty are not called, and the referee can in fact have a direct bearing on the result of a game. It might be open for debate as to whether a “liberal standard” on marginal hooks, trips, or holding at various points in a game is tolerable or even acceptable. I don’t believe there should be any compromise with regard to infractions that jeopardize player safety. At this serious crossroad in the game
there is nothing that puts players at greater risk than when the head of an opponent is targeted or becomes the principle point of contact. I’ve been asked by many, “How did this element of the game become so fractured?” Is it the harder equipment, bigger, faster players, and strict enforcement on illegal restraining tactics thereby creating more speed on the fore check, or is it simply a lack of respect by modern day players for one another? While all of these factors have contributed to the potential for increased injuries, the dangerous culture of head hits has been allowed to flourish through inconsistencies in the standard of enforcement both on the ice and at the Hockey Operations level, especially when it comes to suspensions.

As I stated at the Mayo Clinic, it was just four years earlier that I had assessed game misconducts in two separate games, one to Steve Begin of the Montreal Canadiens and the other to David Koci of Chicago Blackhawks, for knocking out players with direct, targeted hits to the head. Each injured player was carried off the ice and suffered concussions. The day after each game, then vice president of officiating, Stephen Walkom, called and advised me that they (Walkom and Colin Campbell, senior vice president of hockey operations) deemed each play to be a “good hockey hit.” After the second rescinded game misconduct, I warned Walkom that their position on these types of hits would come back to bite them and that in three or four years they would have more players forced out of the game, just like Eric Lindros, Keith Primeau, and many others. Additionally, I stated that there would be an overwhelming public outcry which the League would not be able to defend against. Unfortunately for some players who have suffered serious injury, my unheeded warning four years earlier to the League, and the game overall, has come to fruition.

Little did I know that the Mayo Clinic’s Ice Hockey Summit on Concussions on October 19, 2010, would set a series of events in motion that continues to take me down unexpected paths. As
soon as I stepped away from the podium in Rochester, Minnesota, a CBC radio journalist, followed by Jeff Klien of the
New York Times
, and other media covering the Summit approached me for follow-up comments and interviews.

Just four days later, on October 23, Fenn Publishing hosted the launch of
The Final Call
at Wayne Gretzky’s Restaurant in Toronto. I was also invited that night to appear on
Hockey Night in Canada
and speak about my views on head hits following a number of press releases and articles in Canadian media on my position as stated at the Mayo Clinic. Show host Ron McLean asked me about the stand I had taken on hits to the head, seemingly in opposition to the League. As Ron made specific reference to the two rescinded penalties which I had called on Begin and Koci,
HNIC
rolled video clips of each hit. I would defy anyone watching that night to tell me or Ron (a fine amateur hockey referee in his own right) that they were “good hockey hits!” I maintain that hits like these were as worthy of a suspension then as they are now.