With or without a whistle, Paul Stewart was a man to be reckoned with
Thursday, November 22, 2007 | 12:07 PM ET
Former NHL tough guy turned referee Paul Stewart will be one of our featured guests on Hockey Night in Canada Radio (Sirius ch 122). I always liked Paul Stewart, both as a professional and as a person. He’s just one of those guys who you instantly like when you meet them. His story of battling and beating colon cancer is a riveting one too.
As a player, Stewart was tough as nails -- raw bone tough -- and today is the 28th anniversary of his NHL debut with the Quebec Nordiques in a game where he fought the Bruins Terry O’Reilly, Stan Jonathan and Al Secord. Three pretty tough dudes. Oh, and by the way, all three of those fights happened in the first period.
And oh, one other thing: he also fought Wayne Cashman in the warm up.
Hard to find much video of Stewart on YouTube … but here’s one of the fights from this day 28 years ago – Stewart against Stan Jonathan of the Bruins.
Seriously, you have to tune in to today’s HNIC Radio show to hear Stewart tell this story IN DETAIL. It’s amazing, trust me.
Another great career footnote about Stewart: his reffing debut was in a game between the Bruins and Habs in Boston. Stewart called an admittedly weak penalty against the Bruins to show that the Boston native wouldn’t play favourites. The Habs scored, the Bruins lost the game and Stewart heard it from the fans at the old Boston Garden.
Also on today’s show (live from the CBC Sports Café): The CBC’s Steve Armitage co-hosts the first hour. In addition to Paul Stewart, we’ll be joined by Peter Mansbridge of the National, former CFL/NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer, HNIC’s Cassie Campbell live in Phoenix, and former CFL defensive lineman (and minor league hockey player with John Brophy in Hampton) Glen Kulka. It’s a jam-packed, Hockey Night-meets-Grey Cup Week show, hope you can join us!!
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About the Author
Jeff Marek, one of sports talk radio's brightest stars, is the host of the all-new HNIC Radio on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. A twelve-year sports-talk radio veteran, the Toronto native provides intelligent hockey talk, insight and debate during the two-hour national daily drive-time hockey program.
Well known for his previous work on Leafs Lunch on AM 640 Toronto Radio, Marek is one of sports talk radio's most respected personalities. He joined AM 640 in 2000, hosting The Jeff Marek Show, a nightly open-line talk show, while working as the stations' morning news anchor. He quickly became the director of sports news and joined host Bill Watters on Leafs Lunch.
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Comments
Jay Fish
Recently a friend and I were reminiscing about playing sports and the different coaches we had growing up. One of the first names that still comes to my mind is Paul Stewart so I googled and found this article. He was my high school hockey coach for one year in the mid eighties on Cape Cod and I will always remember him. He was the kind of person who always inspired me to perform above my abilities. I'm 40 years old now and still recognize his impact on me. Thanks, Coach.
Posted May 25, 2008 11:00 AM
Jaret
Winnipeg
As much as we gripe about them, the refs are as much a part of the game as the players. They whine less though. For all his supposed toughness, Eric L wouldn't have survived as one.
Posted November 23, 2007 10:26 AM
Will
Ontario
Years back, when Winnipeg had an NHL team, I was waiting in the bowels of the arena hoping to get some autographs. I had my two young sons with me(ages 3 and 6 then)and was waiting patiently when Mr Stewart, who had reffed the game, walked by. I nodded to him,
he walked about ten steps, then turned around and came back. He knelt down to be level with my kids, asked them a couple questions about the game, then pulled out two brand new Jets pucks and gave them to my boys...they were in awe and I realized what a class act this guy was(and is).
Posted November 22, 2007 03:44 PM