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Ref Memories

  One night in a game, the unexpected took place. Before the game begins, the linesmen would look at the game sheet to get the numbers of the players who were starting a game. If a team started the wrong players a minor penalty was to be assessed to the offending team. The referee was to check the game sheet and count the players on the ice to ensure all were accounted for. This rule has changed somewhat over the years but back in the day, this was how it looked.

    I and the other linesman have got our numbers and the referee has counted the players, so the game begins. Play is going and midway through the second period one of the teams scores a goal, not the first goal of the game, but a goal.

    After the puck is dropped to resume play, the official scorer hits the buzzer signifying the end of the period, but we know it is not the end of the period. The officials all gather together at the penalty box, and the official scorer and the official scorer tells us the player who scored the goal is not on the game sheet. The head referee takes the game sheet and sure enough the player that scored is not on the game sheet. What do we do? Well, this is what takes place! The head referee has to deliver the message to the team with the player not on the game sheet is, we take the goal away and the player cannot play in the remainder of the game. I was glad I was not the messenger! Of course, the team is not happy to say the least and try blaming the officials. The blame is on the coach who wrote down the players who were playing that night.

    You learn from your mistakes! In future games we all checked the game sheets and counted the players and never started a game without counting heads and making sure that all were accounted for. 

    Sometimes teams would write down a player's name on the game sheet because to play in the playoffs you had to participate in a certain number of games. Teams would try and get away with this, really it was cheating! If a player’s name was on the game sheet and did not play, we as officials would stroke the name out, print beside it, absent and call the league president who would call the team and tell them there is no credit for a player who was not there and tell them next time it happened they would have to re post their $500 performance bond.

    Now as I said, the rule changed If a player was late for the game due to unforeseen circumstances you could write the players name on the game sheet but not fill in the number of the player. If he showed up to play, the player would inform the referee, and the referee would instruct the official scorer to put in the number. If the player did not show up for the game, his name was scratched from the game sheet. This rule would not be known to the fans so there were always questions about that rule. This was the only time I was ever a part of this situation thankfully. It did remind me though to always go over the game sheet.

    In later years when I evaluated officials, if they did not check the game sheet before the game began they would lose a mark for that and then you had to explain to them why they should be doing that. Live and learn!