On October 5, 2015, I had the privilege of giving a talk at the Original Six Alumni lunch on the career of former NHL official Ron Wicks. The date of the talk just happened to land on the 55th anniversary of Ron working his first National Hockey League game in 1955.
Then, before Christmas, I came across a photo (below) and emailed it to Ron to confirm that it was him in the picture. "Yes, it is me and I love it, (I) never saw it before. Carl Brewer is mixing it up with Boom Boom (Geoffrion)."
Sadly, the next email I received from Ron was gut-wrenching. He sent it out to several individuals and it was so kind of him to include me. It read in part: "Hi there friends, My disease has caught up with me and I hope to stick around to watch the Masters, and then soon my journey here maybe ending but continuing from up above the clouds. I'll be keeping an eye on you. Thanks for joining me on my skate around the rink - Ron Wicks."
Ron Wicks past away last night (April 1, 2016) of liver cancer.
Below, is the text from my talk on October 5, 2015:
As a young fan during the latter part of the Original Six Era, it was easy to identify and have some knowledge about the players on each of the teams.
Sadly, the next email I received from Ron was gut-wrenching. He sent it out to several individuals and it was so kind of him to include me. It read in part: "Hi there friends, My disease has caught up with me and I hope to stick around to watch the Masters, and then soon my journey here maybe ending but continuing from up above the clouds. I'll be keeping an eye on you. Thanks for joining me on my skate around the rink - Ron Wicks."
Ron Wicks past away last night (April 1, 2016) of liver cancer.
Below, is the text from my talk on October 5, 2015:
As a young fan during the latter part of the Original Six Era, it was easy to identify and have some knowledge about the players on each of the teams.
And although they
shared the ice with the biggest stars in hockey’s Golden Era, I knew very
little about the on-ice officials.
Well, I’m happy to say
with the passage of time this has all changed. The publication of books
authored by Red Storey, Bill Chadwick and Bruce Hood provided me with a new
perspective on those who wore the striped sweater.
Then, earlier this year, I had the fun experience of witnessing 3 referee’s talking about their time in the game. Included in the panel discussion were Bryan Lewis, Bruce Hood and the gentleman I’m going to talk about today – Ron Wicks.
Then, earlier this year, I had the fun experience of witnessing 3 referee’s talking about their time in the game. Included in the panel discussion were Bryan Lewis, Bruce Hood and the gentleman I’m going to talk about today – Ron Wicks.
Ron’s 2009 book – A
Referee’s Life – served as wonderful and informative companion to his in-person
talk. Due to time restrictions, my scope is limited, thus, I highly recommend
Ron’s book for greater detail and many more fascinating stories.
On the subject of stories
about Ron, I was talking with Ray Scapinello about 10 days ago, and he couldn’t
resist telling me this one. Apparently,
Ron wasn’t one of Al Arbour’s favourites. One night Ray was part of a crew
working with a rookie referee and Al was constantly badgering the poor guy. During
a stoppage, Ray was positioned in front of the Islanders bench when Al began
one of his tirades. He told the new guy he was awful and the worst referee he
had ever seen. At this point, Ray turned to Al and said to him, “I thought Ron
Wicks was the worst referee you ever saw”.
Thinking it over, Al Arbour yelled out, “Hey rookie, you’re the second
worst referee I’ve ever seen.”
To begin, here is
some background on Ron Wicks, the young hockey fan.
Like most hockey mad
kids growing up in the 1940s, Ron got his fix by listening to Foster Hewitt on
the radio and playing road and ice hockey.
Now, by tuning in
Hewitt’s broadcast one would think the Toronto Maple Leafs were Ron’s favourite
NHL club. Think again. The Detroit Red Wings not the Leafs were his team. Ron’s
heroes were Terry Sawchuck and Gordie Howe.
When Detroit captured
the Stanley Cup in 1950, Ron couldn’t hide his jubilation and wore his Red
Wings sweater to school. As he pointed out in his book, “for my audacity that
got all 60 pounds of me stuffed into a garbage can.”
In 1952, Ron, then 12 years
old, moved with his family from Timmins to Sudbury.
At 14, he joined the
Sudbury Minor Hockey League and played in the newly built Sudbury Arena, home
of the Senior “A” Sudbury Wolves.
His participation in
the Sudbury Minor Hockey League eventually led Ron to his career as an
official.
“I started in Sudbury
and played in the midget league until I was 16 years-old,” Ron told those
gathered for the panel discussion.
“When I graduated as a
player, I volunteered to become a referee. They said, ‘go buy yourself a
sweater and a whistle,’ and I became a referee.”
For the next three
years Ron refereed games in Sudbury.
Then, came his big
break.
‘I got scouted by Bob
Davidson, who was the chief scout of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was scouting
the North Country and found Frank Mahovlich and Dave Keon. He sent my name into
Carl Voss the NHL referee-in-chief.”
The National Hockey
League responded by sending Ron an invitation to their referee’s training camp
in the fall of 1960.
“I took 2 weeks off
from my job as a tax assessor with the City of Sudbury. I came down to Toronto
and did a few exhibition games. And low-and-behold, I got hired for $40-bucks
and I stuck around for 26 years.”
Ron began his life in
the NHL as a linesman.
In one of those
exhibition games, Ron had an interesting encounter with Chicago’s huge
defenceman, Elmer “Moose” Vasko.
“I remember sitting in
the lobby of the Empress Hotel in Peterborough and talking with Elmer Vasko,”
Ron stated as he began the story.
He explained to Vasko
that he was trying to earn a job in the NHL as an on-ice official. Their
conversation ended with Vasko wishing Ron good luck.
Ron picked-up the story
about how their paths crossed during the game.
“That night a big brawl
broke-out and I came up to Elmer, who was 100 pounds heavier than me. I asked
him if he would kindly go to the penalty box. He said, ‘you know kid, you’re
right.’ He skated to the penalty box and my boss came in at the end of the
period and said, ‘way to break-up that fight with Mr. Vasko.’ The next time I
saw Mr. Vasko, I bought him a cold beer.”
On the final day of
camp, Voss told Ron he had earned an NHL job and he signed his first pro
contract.
At 20 years of age, Ron
began his journey by working the lines in a contest on October 5, 1960, and
today is the 55th anniversary of his maiden voyage – congratulations
Ron!
One playoff contest Ron
worked in ’61 would ultimately become an example of why the officials had to
unite as a group.
He spoke in a serious
tone when he recalled an incident that occurred.
“I was working the game
in Chicago when Toe Blake (coach of the Canadiens) ran across the ice after a
three-period overtime game in the Stanley Cup semi-finals and punched referee
Dalton McArthur.”
Digging deeper, I
discovered that McArthur called a penalty against Montreal’s Dickie Moore and
Chicago scored the game-winning goal on the power play. This sent Blake over
the deep end.
Continuing the story,
Ron commented that, “Toe got fined $2-thousand dollars and Dalton got fired.
Then, we started our union a few years later.”
In fact, The Referee
and Linesmen’s Association was formed in 1969.
As the 1963-64 hockey
season progressed, Ron, now in his fourth term as a linesman, made an
important decision relating to his future. He decided, with the leagues
blessing, to become a referee. As Ron put it, “when I started as a linesman
they gave me a bag of marbles and when I lost all my marbles I became a
referee.”
This shift in direction
resulted in Ron going to the minors for seasoning. He developed his skills by
calling games in the Central Pro League, Western Hockey League and the American
Hockey League.
In the last year of the
Original Six Era, Ron wore the referee’s armband in 2 NHL games.
When the NHL expanded
to 12 teams in 1967, Ron returned to the big-show after a 3-year absence and
began his long run as the new sheriff in town.
And what a career he
had as the guy wearing the white hat and taking on the difficult job of maintaining
law and order in various NHL cities. Here are some of the highlights.
Ron is the youngest
person at age 20 to hit the ice as an NHL official when he worked his first
game as a linesman in 1960.
On March 3, 1985, he
worked game number 1,000 as a referee when the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the
Rangers at MSG.
On December 14, 1985,
Ron established a new record for most NHL games worked by a referee – 1034 –
surpassing the previous mark held by Bruce Hood.
In the 1962 All-Star
Game, Ron was a linesman and in 1986 he refereed the All-Star Game.
In addition to his NHL
duties, Ron worked in the 1984 Canada Cup.
Ron retired following
the 1985-86 season and had worked 1,067 games as an NHL referee. When adding in
his games as a linesman, the figure is closer to 2,000 games.
He participated in 175
playoff contests and 5 Stanley Cup Finals.
Ron is a member of the
Sudbury and Brampton Hall of Fames.
And above all, Ron’s
efforts right from the outset with the Referee’s and Linesmen’s Association
helped create better working conditions and financial stability for future
generations. Similar to the players of the Original Six era, Ron and his
contemporaries, like Bruce Hood, helped build our grand game.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Wicks.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Wicks.
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