George Stewart The Referee In Chief.

One of the oddest characters I have ever met was a longtime fixture up in the west greys at Maple Leaf Gardens. George Stewart was a frail elderly man who looked like he weighed about ninety pounds soaking wet. With his protruding chin and missing teeth, George always looked like he was chewing gum, but he had nothing in his mouth. His thin grey hair seemed to always be straggly and unkempt. He wore an oversized referee jersey with the official NHL crest, red armbands and the name STEWART sewn on the back. 

George was at every home game holding court up in the corridor of the west greens and greys for as long as I can remember. People would always stare from a distance wondering who this peculiar little old man was. He was always at Leaf home games and he garnered most of his attention from first time visitors to the Gardens. Just as I stared and gawked at George during my early visits, after a while I barely noticed him.

George attended games sitting in his usual seat that was rumoured to have been paid for by a Maple Leaf Gardens executive. How true that was I do not know, but I do know he was always sitting in section ninety-two about halfway up. He would always scurry up to his seat just before game time clutching a scruffy notepad with his glasses sitting at the end of his skinny nose. Before the end of each period George would then scurry back down from his seat back to the corridor. He was a funny old man and it was easy to tell that his most prized possession was his referee shirt that he wore to every single game.

Over the course of my visits to the Gardens, I remember having two conversations with George.

After always wondering who this George person was, I decided I would just go up and casually introduce myself. I curiously asked him what was so important to always be writing on his notepad at every game. Also, why he found it necessary to leave his seat each period with about a minute left to play. Afterall, it wasn’t like he was lining up for snacks or beers. Sometimes he would be eating an ice cream bar while leaning on his cane and dropping chocolate pieces melting on the front of his referee shirt, but I never saw George in a concession stand line up.

It was a nosey question, but his answer just cemented my suspicions. George was very eccentric and was living in a completely different world from the rest of us earthlings that were standing around during the intermission on that night.

I was fascinated by George’s response.

It seems George Stewart had assumed the identity of the late Jack Stewart. Jack had played for the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks during a twelve year career between the late thirties and the early fifties. Jack Stewart was nicknamed 'Black Jack' and George flat out told me he was 'Black Jack' Stewart. George wore two cheap toy rings on his hands. On one hand the ring had the Red Wings logo and on the other hand was the Blackhawks logo. George insisted these were both Stanley Cup rings that he was awarded while playing with the Wings and the Hawks during his career.

And furthermore George proceeded to tell me how he was now employed by the National Hockey League as the referee in chief. His job was to write down all the vital stats of games played at Maple Leaf Gardens. Should there ever be an earthquake or catastrophe and the Gardens was destroyed during a game then all of George's stats would become official. The NHL would then submit his handwritten info into the official record books. George also explained how he was now solely responsible for picking the three stars at the end of each game. He always needed to rush down to the timekeeper's booth with his selections before every game ended. 

George went on to tell me how he had played for Team Canada during the Summit Series back in ’72. I asked George why I did not remember him and he explained that he had been sent home after punching Russian superstar Valerie Kharlamov in the face. He had discredited Canada, he told me he hated those Commie Reds. Whenever I took a friend to a Leaf game, they all asked me who the old guy with the referee shirt was. I just told them his name was George and he comes to every game.

On my second encounter, George was looking very frail and looked like he was ill. I just went over to say hello and I asked him how he was doing. George was not doing too well. He now had two canes and he had lost a lot of weight. He lifted up his pant leg to show me his urostomy pouch that was taped to his skinny white leg. After that night I never spoke with George again and eventually he just stopped coming to games altogether. I never knew what happened to him, but I would imagine he had passed away. 

I do know one thing for sure, George Stewart was a proud war veteran. On one Remembrance Day he was featured in a colored photo on the cover of the Toronto Sun saluting his fallen comrades. If you looked closely at that colored picture, under George’s war uniform he was still wearing his referee shirt. However, on this day a red poppy was pinned to the collar.

R.I.P. Mr. George Stewart and thank you for your service.