EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Amateurs officiated Game 4 of the Wales Conference final between New Jersey and the Boston Bruins Sunday night after NHL officials refused to work because of a dispute involving Devils Coach Jim Schoenfeld.
New Jersey defeated Boston 3-1 to even the series 2-2 in a game delayed 67 minutes because of the controversy.
'To me, that wasn't an NHL game,' Bruins Coach Terry O'Reilly said. 'It's a shame it had to happen in the playoffs.'
Schoenfeld was indefinitely suspended by the NHL earlier in the day for an incident following Game 3 Friday night. However, Sunday night, he returned to the bench when the Devils obtained a restraining order from Judge J.F. Madden of the Superior Court of New Jersey -- prompting the protest of the scheduled NHL officiating crew.
Schoenfeld was suspended by NHL Executive Vice President Brian O'Neill for 'dishonorable' conduct toward referee Don Koharski. Because Schoenfeld was suspended without a hearing or right to appeal, Madden granted the Devils the restraining order 15 minutes before the scheduled start of Game 4.
John McCauley, NHL supervisor of officials, attempted to mediate between the teams' general managers and the officiating crew.
'The main thing they (Dave Newell's crew) cited was security,' Boston General Manager Harry Sinden said. 'They felt they would be attacked by the fans if Schoenfeld coached.'
Bill Wirtz, chairman of NHL Board of Governors, ordered the game to begin more than an hour after the scheduled 7:45 p.m. start, using three local officials from the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States.
Paul McInnis, 53, normally a penalty-box timekeeper during Devils home games, refereed and called a total of 86 penalty minutes. He has officiated NHL exhibition games and college hockey. He wore Devils sweat pants to start the game. The two linesmen were Vin Godleski and Jim Sullivan, both off-ice officials at Devils games.
'Once the game got going, although it had a lot of explosiveness, it was just another tough hockey game,' McInnis said. 'When (the players) started to insult us, I felt better, because it meant they had accepted us.'
Friday night, moments after Boston won 6-1 to lead the series 2-1, Schoenfeld confronted Koharski in the runway leading from the ice. Koharski accused Schoenfeld of shoving him and gave the coach a gross misconduct penalty, which carries an automatic league inquiry. Schoenfeld denies bumping Koharski.
The Devils claim they received no communication from the league until a statement circulated at Meadowlands Arena at about 4 p.m.
As the teams skated warmups, referee Newell and linesmen Gord Broseker and Ray Scapinello left the ice to meet with McCauley. Newell is the head of the officials' union, whose contract expires after this season.
Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said he offered a tape of the incident to O'Neill through McCauley.
'I want to know how a decision to suspend (Schoenfeld) could have been reached without Mr. O'Neill having seen the evidence,' Lamoriello said.
The league's statement, issued by O'Neill, did not say whether league authorities watched the tape.
'Considering possible penalties for this incident, it is acknowledged that some allegations require further investigation,' O'Neill's statement read in part. O'Neill charged the following:
-Schoenfeld waited for Koharski and confronted him;
-Physical contact was made, although it was uncertain who made first contact and whether it was intentional;
-Schoenfeld harassed Koharski down the hallway and made a 'derogatory and demeaning' comment.
Sinden said he did not consider refusing to play the game.
'I think we would have lost in the end,' Sinden said. 'I think we would have suffered for it ... but we would have made a heck of a case.
'He (McCauley) wanted to play the game, and I wanted to play the game. You HAVE to play, under almost any conditions.
'You can't walk away from the game. You just can't do it. I'm disappointed that people would do certain things to interfere with the conduct of the game. That includes the league, the Devils, and the Referees Association. They've got to share this blame, and I'm not saying equally. They were the ones who caused this to happen.
'... I don't care what the circumstances are, what the point you're trying to make is; nothing, nothing allows you to do what they (New Jersey) did.
O'Reilly layed blame on the league and Officials Association.
'We're all looking for justice, but it can't be immediate,' he said of Schoenfeld's suspension. 'What the NHL officials wanted was an immediate suspension of Jim Schoenfeld for what he did (Friday) night.
'It's not really clear if he did make intentional contact or not. Before you can suspend a guy for that, you've got to have a hearing. I can't really fault New Jersey for the restraining order, even though it is the first time a team has gone outside the NHL for the decision making.'
