Tough Calls: NHL Referees and Linesmen Tell Their Story

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

Dick Irvin has been around professional hockey all his life. He was a
young boy when his father, Dick Irvin Sr., was a coach for the Toronto
Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. A sports journalist, he has been
the radio voice of the Montreal Canadiens and a broadcaster for
“Hockey Night in Canada” for more than 30 years. He has written
numerous books about various aspects of hockey: teams (The Habs),
coaches (Behind the Bench), and goalies (In the Crease). In Tough Calls,
he turns his attention to the on-ice officials.

The book consists of anecdotal stories that are based on interviews
with referees and linesmen who have served in the National Hockey
League. Irvin provides background on each selected official and then,
through probing questions, allows the official to describe the most
noteworthy (and frequently controversial) games in which he
participated. This approach gives the official the opportunity to
explain calls from his own vantage point, not from that of a biased
spectator or journalist. In addition to the calls they made, the
officials discuss the changes that have occurred in hockey over the past
few decades. Some be-moan their inability, since the expansion, to get
to know the players; others object to an increasing lack of respect
shown toward officials.

Irvin’s selection of officials is inclusive and representative of NHL
history—one notable exception being the omission of Dave Newell.
Written in a journalistic style, this book is a pleasant read.