A REFEREE'S LIFE
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From the minors to the big time, former NHL referee Ron Wicks recounts life on and off the ice.
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By Ron Wicks
ISBN# 9781897508480
As a youngster, I would often see Ron Wicks jogging through our neighbourhood and, on occasion, skating laps at the Memorial Arena in Brampton. Ron’s local presence made him a vicarious connection for me to the game I loved and the league I aspired to cover as a broadcaster.
Wicks was a fixture on the ice as one of the NHL’s most respected officials from the beginning of the expansion era to his retirement in 1985, when he left the game as the record holder for most career games officiated.
“What stories he must have,” I would wondrously contemplate as Ron pounded the pavement, preparing himself for his next NHL assignment. I imagined his encounters with legendary players like Howe, Orr and Hull (and later Gretzky); the menacing confrontations with coaches from Blake and Imlach to Cherry and Arbour; the mayhem he was responsible for controlling at intimidating venues like the Philadelphia Spectrum and Boston Garden; the grandeur and spectacle of being under the bright lights at the Montreal Forum, Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens and Madison Square Garden in New York.
Now, with his new book, A Referee’s Life, Ron is a conduit for all hockey fans to the golden era of the game in which he played such an integral role.
Wicks’ decision to chronicle his distinguished officiating career in A Referee’s Life turns out to be one of his best calls ever.
- Foreword by Chris Cuthbert
