Let the playoffs begin. Fortunately for the first time in three years I am not moving and trying to get the cable hooked up in time to catch the first round of the playoffs.
Some old rivalries are being renewed, such as the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks, but no series is more historic than the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. The Bruins and Habs will meet for the 33rd time in NHL playoff history. Other series, such as the one between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lighting, are starting the first chapter of their playoff history, but it will be an exciting six weeks full of surprises.
Usually at this time of year I would do my column with predictions and picks for the playoffs, but since it turns out I am wrong occasionally and the Maple Leafs are out I will instead go a different route.
Instead of doing an NHL breakdown of the playoffs, this column is dedicated to breaking down my hockey season.
As a rec hockey player there aren't too many hidden secrets - you play hockey, you have a beverage and you often have no idea if you won or lost. That pretty much covers both the Fat Pack and Fire Department rec nights.
The hockey season I was referring to was the reffing season. As more and more officials drop off the radar and hang up the stripes each year those who choose to stick it out can basically be as busy officiating games as they want during the season. The one year I lived in Saskatoon, I would do nearly eight games a week and 30 games in 30 days wasn't unheard of. It kept me busy, helped me earn some pocket money and maybe was a factor to my marks being less than satisfactory, although I think there may have been other reasons as well.
This season was close to the one in Saskatoon six years ago and it was capped off by 24 games in three days at the FSIN hockey championships.
Good hockey, good money and maybe the best part of the weekend was the good group of guys I had to work with.
You always hear about players saying the one things they will miss most after retiring or being traded or something like that is the guys in the locker room.
The same can be said for the officials although there are only two, three or four of us on the ice we are a team and it is those guys that make officiating exciting.
Last weekend, the officials were at the rink at 7:30 a.m. All three days and many didn't leave back to the hotel until midnight. It made for a long, tiring, but an entertaining weekend.
Being the rookie of the group of 14 officials I ironically picked the stall in the dressing room where the roofed leaked. Later in the weekend, I found out it had to be the sewage pipe from the men's' bathroom upstairs. The smell of the slow dripping pipe, 14.5 guys leaving their equipment over night and a makeshift buffet station in the dressing made for some truly unique scents. I was thankful my spring allergies were starting to kick in and my nose wasn't getting the full effect.
The reason I mentioned 14.5 men leaving their equipment was because one of the officials, resembled Andrie the Giant dressed as a zebra so he gets the extra .5 credit. The big guy's feet, like all of ours throughout the weekend, hurt but he trudged on and after the adrenalin rush of literally catching a player leaving the bench to join in a scrum, which eventually lead to the game being called, he was able to push through the weekend.
I learned how to use the "two-puck system," which if any higher level officials are reading this maybe skip this paragraph. After coming in sweating following my first two games the other officials were wondering why I was sweating so bad. I told them as soon as that helmet goes on there is no where for the hot air to go and thing just get moist up top. They explained how they weren't sweating because they carried an extra puck in their pocket so they didn't have to bust down and back after icing or offsides. It blew my mind, something so simple. It worked well and since it was straight time periods it seemed like the logical way to operate for the rest of the weekend.
All the other officials from the weekend had all been working tournaments like this for years so they were prepared with dozens of socks, hair blowers to dry their skates, hot plates to make meals morning until night, and one was evening willing to give lessons on how to stretch your stretch mark before going on the ice.
On the drive home Sunday night, I thought of how I missed playing good competitive hockey and although my comeback didn't go as planned last season I am quite happy to be an official. Those officials who want to be there and take pride in what they are doing while still having fun are the ones who make a long hockey season of officiating worthwhile.
This is a thanks to all the local officials who filled in games in the Battlefords and area and to those coaches, fans and players who do know the rules and were respectful to all officials. Also to those guys who worked the championships in Saskatoon with this rookie. Also I am sending out a reminder to everyone else that it isn't as easy as it looks, but you can enjoy it if you just give it a try next season.
