A 2018 inductee into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games. Today’s topic: Leon Stickle Remembered.
Prolific NHL linesman Leon Stickle passed away on Nov. 5. He was 77. Leon officiated in the NHL from the 1969-70 season until 1998. He was an excellent multi-sport athlete in his youth — Leon was extremely strong . If he grabbed you to pull you out of a scrum, you weren’t going anywhere. He worked the lines in some games I played during my time with the Quebec Nordiques.
It a shame that many knew Leon primarily because of a mistake he made. He missed an obvious offside in the first period of Game Six of the 1980 Stanley Cup Final between the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. The Islanders later went on to win the game — and the Stanley Cup — in overtime.
Here’s the thing. Stickle never ducked or his from his mistake. He got booed every time he worked a game in Philly for the rest of his career. He knew it was coming and accepted it. One time, I offered to skate out with him when public address announcer Lou Nolan introduced the officials. That way, we’d share the boos. Leon just chuckled. (I guess I’d earned enough of my own that I didn’t have to bogart someone else’s). Stickle never made excuses either. He admitted that messed up and that it bothered him more than anyone.
Leon got redemption. He worked the Cup Final again in 1981, 1984, and 1985. For internal political reasons, I never got assigned past the second round. Overall, he officiated 2,069 regular season games, 206 playoff games, two Canada Cups (1981 and 1984), and four All-Star games (including the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-vous ’87) plus six Cup Finals (1977 and 1978 before the aforementioned series in the 1980s).
A couple of personal notes about Leon:
- He was one of the linesmen when I made my NHL refereeing debut in substitution for an injured Dave Newell.
- I rode with him many times between assignments. He was a gentleman, making a point to shake my hand and praise the job I’d done.
- My favorite Leon story is that we had a running inside joke between us. It’s a long story that loses something if you didn’t hear the voice of the person who said it but the punch line was “hold me”.
- One time I traveled to Leon’s charity golf tournament — a very long drive from the Boston area. For many years, Leon was an ardent supporter of Special Olympics Ontario and Special Olympics Canada. I was happy to do it. In return, I received… a glue gun.
My heart goes out to Leon’s family. He and wife Nancy raised three children: daughters Jayne and Christine and son David.
