Romeo worked with all

I began officiating in the American Hockey League when I was 31 years old, back in 1978, the first year that Moncton, N.B., had an AHL team—the New Brunswick Hawks. I was working full-time as a machinist for CN at the time—officiating was a sideline, a hobby, a passion of my mine that kept me in shape and in touch with the game of hockey, which I loved so much. I devoted all my free time to it, and thanks to Gordie Anziano, who was the head of AHL officials at the time, I learned a lot about the art of officiating, and I like to think that I became quite good at it.

Having started later in life at the professional level, I didn’t harbor any false hopes of making an NHL career out of officiating, but I did my best to help the young officials coming up get their shot at making it to the big league. And many of them did!

All the great referees and linesmen you see working the games or on television, spent time in the AHL honing their skills, before being called up to the NHL, and I’m proud to have been able to make them feel welcome, pass along what I’d learned and lend a hand to keep their careers moving in the right direction on and off the ice.

Many a time, I’d pick up a newcomer at the airport, bring him home for one of my wife Sylvia's home cooked meals, and occasionally some post-game lobster hot dogs and a brew, as Don Cherry would say. It was my way of giving back to the game and our community. I’d joke with the guys when their stint in the AHL was up to send me a jersey with their name on it when they arrived in the NHL, and many of them did.

In addition to the hundreds of crested pucks I’ve collected from various teams over my 35-year on-ice career, back when crested pucks weren’t as common as they are today, I now have the pleasure to display 43 authentic NHL officials’ jerseys. Most of them are autographed by the aspiring officials I met as they came up through the ranks and made good on their promise to send me a jersey when they arrived in the NHL. Not everyone would be proud of this type of collection, but I sure am, and also very honored to have had the chance to work with all of them.

Romeo E. Leblanc, Dieppe, N.B.

Courtesy of Ron Ward and Reader's Digest