Future Looks Bright for Referee Stewart

For a few terrifying minutes, Paul Stewart’s nightmares returned.

After undergoing surgery on his cancerous colon in June, he thought the worst was over when he completed his last chemotherapy session on Christmas Eve, between refereeing assignments. But the discovery last week of a lump on his arm brought his old fears back to life.

“I was a little bit concerned,” he said. “But as time goes on and you distance yourself from real trouble, the weeks you had the worst anxiety, you learn you can handle anything.”

A biopsy of the lump was negative. Today, exactly a year since his diagnosis--which he got a day after the birth of his son, McCauley John--Stewart is working a normal schedule and facing the future with optimism.

“The doctor said anniversaries are tough so I’m trying to keep busy,” he said.

Limited at first to short trips near his Boston-area home, Stewart made his first West Coast swing last week. He faces more surgery to repair four incisional hernias, but he’s more concerned with regaining his strength and getting back into a routine.

“We’re moving toward the playoffs and I have to see if I’m up to working four, five games in seven or eight nights,” said Stewart, who was an enforcer as a player but has been an NHL official since 1987. “I’m taking this trip as a successful experiment.

“The hernias make it difficult for me to do sit-ups, but they don’t hurt. I feel pretty well. With the innovation of the two-referee system, I work a one-man game and then a two-man game, so it’s not bad. Last week, I worked back-to-back games in St. Louis and Chicago, and that was good for me and gave me an opportunity to see what the challenges were physically.”

The challenges of his job horrified his medical team.

“I had an interesting conversation with one of my doctors,” Stewart said, smiling. “He said if it were up to him, I would be on a couch. Several of the doctors said they thought I should sit out a year. I felt there were important psychological aspects to coming back.”

Bryan Lewis, the NHL’s director of officiating and a friend of Stewart’s, monitors him closely for signs of fatigue. The magnitude of Stewart’s triumph hit Lewis before the Heroes of Hockey game at the NHL All-Star weekend, where Lewis officiated and Stewart took part in a ceremonial faceoff.

“I said, ‘I never thought we’d be out here together,’ ” Lewis said. “I’m so happy for him for personal reasons--his person.”

The nervous moments haven’t ended. Stewart has had two biopsies since the chemo ended and must undergo monthly liver-function tests and twice-a-year colonoscopies. He has learned to be honest, not macho, when asked how he feels.

“One of the advantages to being a mature athlete is, I’ve learned if you try to fool anyone, you end up fooling yourself,” he said. “I’m keen on making sure the example I’m setting for other people is a good one.”

NICE BUILDING, BUT. . .

With the Staples Center rushing toward completion, the Kings will have an arena that’s more attractive than their team.

Forget the company line that things aren’t so bad because they’re not far from a playoff berth. They have regressed this season and lack leadership and heart. And forget Coach Larry Robinson’s habit of blaming the referees for the Kings’ misfortunes. They’re big physically but small in character, and the blame lies in the front office, coaches’ office and the locker room.

Club President Tim Leiweke, whose contract was extended and is negotiating an extension with General Manager Dave Taylor, vowed to change the team’s look next season.

“Let everybody in the organization look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they have helped us become a better organization. The reality is no,” Leiweke said. “If we don’t make the playoffs this year, one thing I can promise is everybody in the organization will have character to look in the mirror and say yes. We will get rid of those who can’t. I’d rather have a lean, mean organization that gives 100% on the ice than what we have now.”

SENATORS’ RULE MAY BE BRIEF

Just when the Senators finally buried their sad-sack image--they held the East lead for a day after thumping the Flyers on Saturday--their majority owner said the club may be sold and moved to the U.S.

Rod Bryden said the Senators will stay in Ottawa next season but may flee after that, continuing a trend started by the Quebec Nordiques and built on by the Winnipeg Jets. Bryden sought local investors to keep the team in Canada’s capital but found none, and was disheartened when the Canadian government declined to ease the club’s tax burden.

“It’s impossible to make money in our market with our level of public costs,” he said.

The Senators’ $21-million payroll is the NHL’s third-lowest, they’ve sold 142 of the Corel Centre’s 147 suites and they’ve filled more than 92% of their

seats. However, they pay about $30 million a year in local, provincial and federal taxes--and that’s after spending $217 million (Canadian) for their arena and $38 million for a freeway off-ramp that leads to the arena.

“This should not be taken as a threat, nor should it come as a surprise,” Bryden said. “But if no one else in Canada cares, why should I care?”

THE MORE THE MERRIER?

Most critics think too many teams make the playoffs, but Oiler General Manager Glen Sather wants more teams to get in.

“It would help the Canadian teams,” he said. “Right now, three are out [Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary] and one [Edmonton] is hanging on. There

are a lot of ways you could structure it. You could go to 10 per conference, which means 20 teams, and make the first round best-of-five. Maybe you give the top team in each conference a bye. . . .

“Look at how many trophies our league has for exceptional achievements, and all of them are good. There’s one now for the leading goal scorer. Next, there will be ones for assists, points and most hits, and there’s nothing wrong with awards because they reward people for accomplishments. It’s the same thing with the playoffs. You reward teams. Why cut it off?”

Because a playoff berth becomes meaningless when so many teams qualify. And it further cheapens the regular season, that’s why.

DIRK DIDN’T WORK

Coach Dirk Graham, reassigned by the Blackhawks on Monday--a day after the team hit a 43-year low of 19 games below .500--was doomed from the start. He had no coaching experience and was continually hindered by his bosses, who have run a once-proud franchise into the ground.

Owner Bill Wirtz, who apparently doesn’t care that his cash-cow team has become a joke, is as much to blame as former general manager Bob Pulford and current lap dog Bob Murray. The Blackhawks got almost nothing for Ed Belfour and Jeremy Roenick, and their free-agent signing of Doug Gilmour is backfiring. Why Chris Chelios wants to stay in Chicago is baffling.

To interim Coach Lorne Molleken: good luck. You’ll need it.

SLAP SHOTS

The Sharks were 4-5-1 on the longest trip in NHL history. They might have broken even if they had scored more than four goals in losing the last three games. . . . In an effort to resolve ties, American Hockey League teams are playing four skaters a side in overtime. The NHL, which has considered using Olympic-style shootouts to break ties, will monitor the AHL experiment to see if it merits consideration by the board of governors. . . . Pavel Bure, out two weeks because of a strained leg muscle, targeted Wednesday to return to the Florida Panthers’ lineup.

Calgary extended the contract of defenseman Phil Housley, who has played surprisingly well. He took a pay cut, from $2.75 million to $2.5 million, to get security. . . . Blues’ left wing Geoff Courtnall, out nearly three months because of a concussion, is practicing but feels dizzy when turning. . . . It was classy of Detroit center Sergei Fedorov to donate his $2-million salary to a charity that will help children.

Tampa Bay Lightning owner Art Williams put a price of $120-$130 million on the club, the lease to the Ice Palace and six acres of adjacent land. He may want to keep a stake, which could kill a deal with Detroit Piston owner Bill Davidson, who wants the whole operation. . . . Carolina’s Ray Sheppard became the first player to score 20 goals for six teams. His hands always were better than his skating. . . . Toronto goalie Glenn Healy is multitalented. He played the bagpipes with the 48th Highlanders in a parade that carried the Maple Leafs’ banners to the Air Canada Centre on Friday.

The Oilers may extend Marty McSorley’s contract--but only so they can lose him in the expansion draft. Each team must expose one veteran forward and one veteran defenseman, defined as someone who has played 40 games this season or 70 games over the last two seasons and is under contract by draft day. Memo to the Atlanta Thrashers: Just say no.