[NHL] Video:John D'Amico Feature For His Last Game

[FredFan7]

Nice stuff.

Koharski and Cvik are his partners.

bit.ly/gG8oLd

[JAYJAYSTRIPES]

A great piece, thanks Fred!

[Deleted]

John D'Amico - one of the greats. Enjoyed watching him work with Neil Armstrong and
Matt Pavelich and refs Art Skov, John Ashley, Bill Friday and Bruce Hood.

[FredFan7]

I started following hockey when I lived near Philadelphia from 1983-91. In my day the referees and linesman I enjoyed watching were, Ray Scapinello, John D'Amico, Leon Stickle, Ron Finn, Bob Myers, Ron Hoggarth, Ron Wicks, Kerry Fraser, Andy Van Hellemond, and Don Koharski.

[cj]

As noted in the piece, John joined the NHL in 1964 during the great era (boy do I wish we could go back to that) of the six team NHL. You basically had only three or four full time linesmen....there was Neil Armstrong (not the astronaut), Matt Pavelich (his brother Marty was an NHL player), Ron Wicks and John. There may have been one or two others. There were several part time linesmen who worked regional games. Examles were Walt Atanas who lived in Springfield Mass at the time and who only worked games in New York and Boston , Bobby Frampton who worked games in those two cities as well as Montreal, George Morrison who worked games in the mid west Toronto, Chicago, Detroit. There were five referees, Frank Udvari, Vern Buffey, John Ashley, Art Skov and Bill Friday. There were several younger fellows and a year or two later, the league begam preparations for the first expansion by bringing in some younger officials such as Claude Bechard, Bob Hodges. At that time, even the senior referees also worked games in the American Hockey League to fill out their schedules. Wicks left the lines and spent a couple of year preparing to be a referee. John also wanted to be a referee at first, worked several games as a referee in either 1968 or 1969 but found the pressure too much and opted to go back to work the lines for the rest of his career.

[impz45]

Pat Shetler was also a linseman during this time whose career was shortened due to injury.

I saw a game as a child at MSG between the Rangers and California Goleden Seals in which John was the referee.

[cj]

That game you referred to might have been the game that convinced D'Amico refereeing wasn't for him. Whether it was that game or not, one of D'Ammico's last games at MSG involved a game with all sorts of penalties. Finally, with the Rangers short handed lining up for a face off, Emile Francis realized the Rangers had five men on the ice not counting the goalkeeper when they should have had four so Ron Stewart was coming off the iice and D'Amico intercepted him and told the Rangers they couldn't make the change. Stewart said to him that he'd love to stay on the ice but the Rangers were supposed to be short handed. D'Amico, a perfectionist, started breaking out in profuse sweat and said okay. Just after that game he decided the pressure on the referees was too great and spent the rest of his career as a linesman.

The way the NHL developed referees in those days was they started as a linesman for a couple of seasons to get used to the pace of the game, went to leagues such as the AHL and CPHL (Central Professional Hockey League) and worked as a referee. (The NHL provided referees for both of those leagues and used them to develop their referees; those leagues used home town linesmen) and after working as a referee for a couple of seasons in the minors, they were ready for the big show. Ron Wicks was a very very young linesman in the NHL in the early 60's and then worked three or four years in the minors and came to stay in the NHL in around 1967 just after the first expansion. Don Koharski was another. D'Amico's reluctance to continue as a referee was not unique. Matt Pavelich originally went through the same thing and decided he didn't want the job and stayed as a linesman after a season or two trying his hand at refereeing. Art Skov also spent a couple of seasons as a linesman in the NHL before undergoing the training and coming back as a referee.

The NHL pretty much has abandoned that. Now you are trained either as a referee or as a linesman. Of course, the officiating staffs are much larger what with the ill conceived two referee system, too many referees are needed than are really ready for the NHL. Also, it is interesting to note the AHL still uses the one referee system (whereas many of the junior leagues in Canada have gone to two referees). The skating techniques in the two referee system require much more back skating and sometimes the transformation from the one referee to the two referee style of skating is a tad difficult.

Also one of DiAmico's sons is now an NHL linesman. I don't know if it's the one featured at the end of the clip as D'Amico was meeting his wife and that son after his final game.

Finally, from viewing the tape, wasn't there quite a contrast in size between Joh and Mike Cvik? Gosh was Cvik tall!

[impz45]

Current Linesman, Brian Murphy, Shane Heyer and Jay Sharrers started their careers as Linseman, went to Referee and are now back at Linesman. Sharrers and Murphy have worked Cup Finals as Linesman.

[Deleted]

cj, I believe that John's son Angelo D'Amico was let go after a short stint in the NHL several years ago.

[timdaye]

Do ya think Cvik has to have his sweaters custom made?

[FredFan7]

bump

[JugglingReferee]

One great pleasure young Canadian men have is to grow up watching this stuff week in, week out.

My taste in music suggests I was born in the wrong era, and my style of officiating suggests I'd've loved to seen the 50s and 60s live. As it were, I started in the 70s.

Great memories those times were.