Zeebs du Jour

A regular fixture in my hockey notes and line charts for St. Lawrence games was a line titled “Zeebs du Jour” listing the referees and linesmen for that particular contest.

I have no idea where or when I picked it up, but I used it for a long time. “Zeebs” is an affectionate term for the guys in stripes, several of whom became good friends over the years and remain among my Facebook friends…although I have not been in contact since my page was taken down.

Before the internet came along, I would get to the rink around 5 p.m. for a 7 p.m.   and spend at least part of the pre-game time in the referees’ room, just chatting. They also arrived at the rink early and we usually spent some time over a cup of coffee talking about all kinds of different things. Billy Stewart was one of my favorites to chat with. The son of former NHL referee, MLB umpire and NHL coach Bill Stewart, who was the first American Coach to win the Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks 1938), Billy was a frequent visitor to Canton and a very good referee. We talked hockey, baseball, football and whatever else came to mind. Billy was a probation officer in Boston and a highly-respected one. His line to mis-behaving hockey players was “Gentlemen, I put people in jail for a living, so two minutes is not a problem.”

Referees Scott Hansen, Jimmy Czerbo, Mike Noeth, John Galipeau, and Alex Dell were among those I enjoyed chatting with prior to games and usually had a brief visit with post-game. Hansen is still working, refereeing Hockey East Games and officiated in the 2022 Olympics. Czerbo would do just about anything to keep a game moving along. He once borrowed a screwdriver and fixed a penalty box door and in another case helped the rink crew replace a pane of glass. Noeth was a NHL referee from 1979-88, worked two Canada Cup tournaments and the Izvestia Tournament in Moscow in 1979. His son Michael is currently a ECAC Hockey Official. Galipeau was the referee the night I got hit in the groin with a puck in the early 1980s. The first thing I saw when I regained my senses was a close up view of his skates as he came into the scorer’s table area to check on my well-being. I later enjoyed a round of golf at Oak Hill in Rochester followed by dinner at his house. Dell is a successful attorney in Albany and spent 25-years as an official, refereeing his first NHL game in 1992.

There was also a crew of North Country officials who worked a lot of St. Lawrence games in the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s. Wayne Houmiel, Mel Tomalty, Mike St. Louis, Jack Lakins, Larry Legault and  Joel Dupree were all Appleton regulars. I played softball with Mel and saw Joel on a regular basis when he was the head of officials for Section X and often had meetings at the Best Western in Canton.

There were the steady who called the game without a lot of fanfare, and then there were the flamboyant. Gilles Threadgold, who also officiated football and umpired baseball, refereed with a flair as did Pierre Boulanger, who sometimes looked as if he were trying to land a 747 with his gestures. Coaches who refereed as well as coached such as Billy Riley from Lowell and Bill Cleary from Harvard always added a little extra to the way they called a game.

I also enjoyed my interactions with the assistant referees, usually referred to as linesmen. Jason Shattie, who is the general manager of the Burlington County Club, and Glenn Cooke, who continues to work as an assistant in both college hockey and the American Hockey League are two among many I enjoyed chatting with.

Joe Carusone, Brad LeBlanc, Jason Shattie and Mike Emmanatian officiated my last regular season game at Appleton Arena in February of 2016. I am forever grateful that all four came over with a handshake and kind words after my on-ice recognition between the second and third periods.

One of the drawbacks of the internet (and there are more than one, but they don’t out weigh the plusses when it comes to sports information) is that it curtailed my time chatting in the referees room. Instead of having coffee and conversation, I was in the hockey press box, writing stories about track or other events that had gone on that day.

With my view from the press box, it was easy to second guess the referees. We often had a better angle because we were looking down on the action and Greg Lapinski and I would referee the game on our own as part of the broadcasts. We both sometimes got carried away, but none of it was meant as a personal attack on the referees. It is a hard job to do and one open to constant criticism, but you have to admire the guys who stick with it year after year. I just hope that some of our commentary was not part of the videos that the refs received after the game to go over their calls.

I also keep tabs on a pair of NHL referees who have a connection to St. Lawrence through relatives. Garrett Rank is the brother of former SLU hockey captain and golf team standout Kyle Rank. Garrett, who is an accomplished golfer himself, set the tournament scoring record at the St. Lawrence Invitational while at Western Ontario and has been in the NHL since January 2015. He is famous for calling a penalty for every player on the ice in a November 2023 game. Peter MacDougall is the brother of SLU women’s hockey associate head coach Mare MacDougall and worked his first NHL game in April of 2017.