End of a Career

Veteran NHL Referee Rob Shick worked his final NHL Game on Saturday, March 7th in Los Angelas.

The following is a tribute written to "SHICKER", from his good friend and colleague, NHL Referee Mike Leggo.

I remember it like it was yesterday, a morning like any other for the road warriors of the National Hockey League but one that would have a profound effect on my life. It was a typically frosty winter day in Chicago; I was headed to Milwaukee for a minor league game that night and found myself in the hotel gym chatting with Rob. He was working the Blackhawks that night and heading home the next day. He told me that he would be walking on the beach with his dog early the next afternoon. Sounded great to me! Little did I know that the meeting in the gym would become a defining moment in my life. I vowed then and there to take advantage of the opportunities available to me.

[When Rob Shick retires, he will have worked 1321 NHL Regular Season Games and 130 Stanley Cup Playoff Games.]

The following year, having served my apprenticeship in the AHL, I moved to the same area of California paradise that Rob so enticingly pictured for me. Quickly we became friends, more of a mentor relationship at first, but one that evolved into the most important and rewarding friendship of my life. A bit of hyperbole perhaps, but when trying to describe and define people we care about, words are sometimes hard to find, thus I find myself struggling for words to describe my friendship with the man we call Shicker.

I am lucky to know two Rob Shicks. Rob, the friend that will come over at the drop of a hat to help with anything and Rob the hockey officials epitome of a professionals’ professional.

Rob the friend, is a good man for our little community, quietly giving time and money to various charities like the Boys and Girls Club and other important foundations. I am fortunate to know the Rob the friend that loves his children, his wife, his parents, brothers, sisters as well as my family and our community. My children know him as Uncle Rob and consider him part of our family.

Beyond the friendship, I also know Rob as the NHL referee, my mentor, teaching me the value of work, commitment and resolve. I learned much by osmosis and even more by listening. I learned to respect the history of the game and the people involved in it, I learned to realize how lucky I am, the importance of modesty, inner strength, preparation and commitment. Along the way I also picked up tips on how to conduct myself in public, interact with coaches, management, fellow officials and fans. In short I learned how to be a professional and for that I am eternally grateful.

I also learned many “Shickyisms”, the quotes that provide a guidebook to life including my particular favorite – “Happy wife, happy life” – and a quote he refers to from the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden “ Failure to prepare is preparing to fail” and perhaps his greatest legacy to our game, the one thing he has said over 1,300 times as we start to leave the dressing room for the third period – “the first two periods mean nothing - this is the one they'll all remember”. Just like the man, succinct, to the point and appropriate.

He may be under the radar of some fans in comparison to some of our other senior statesmen - just going about his job, year after year, without fanfare, under the radar – just the way he always wanted it. He may lack the distinguishing characteristics of some other veteran referees - the hair of Fraser, the legendary mustache of McCreary, the long history of Koharski and the pure grace and skating ability of Marouelli. Yet among his contemporaries he is highly regarded and never under rated.

So, on Saturday March 7th in Los Angeles, the man who always thinks carefully before he speaks, the quiet introvert that can light up a room when he wants, the man who always finds the best in things and is never too old to learn, will hitch step his way down the tunnel and onto the Staples Center ice for the final time in his storied career. Then, some two hours later, with family and friends watching from the stands, the man, my friend, will quietly leave the ice but not the game, his legacy cemented in the hearts and minds of millions of hockey fans. Not bad for a skinny kid from Port Alberni, British Columbia, not bad at all.

Michael Leggo

NHL Referee & Friend