Stuck In The Middle Referee’s Life Lonely On, Off Ice For Spokane’s Larue

Wayne Gretzky had climbed to within three goals of Gordie Howe’s National Hockey League scoring record when he picked up the puck and skated off on a breakaway.

A pro-Gretzky crowd of 16,000 - loaded with anticipation - was up and roaring that night in March 1994.

Gretzky carried the puck in close, feinted and buried it in the back of the net.

No goal.

Trailing the play, arm in the air, unnoticed as he was blowing off the play, was the referee, Denny LaRue of Spokane.

At that moment LaRue probably was the most detested man in Southern California. Wayne Gretzky was flirting with history. The call was an intrusion.

Gretzky skated by, Goal No. 799 waved off, muttering, “Hope it was a good penalty.”

It was, or at least LaRue was confident that it was. The sound of his whistle was lost in the commotion of the Los Angeles crowd.

But it was pretty cut and dried, that minor for hooking. The Los Angeles Kings’ Tony Granato had hooked a defenseman off the puck, Gretzky pounced on it and was off.

Denny LaRue was just doing his job, routinely infuriating thousands.

LaRue, 35, is a professional hockey referee, one of only two of 22 NHL referees who does games in both the National Hockey League and the minors.

He flies home today after doing a half-dozen American League playoff games in 10 nights.

He was in Hershey, Pa., on Friday night, where the Bears played the Cornwall Aces in what for him was the last stop of a trip to Binghamton and Albany in New York, to Portland, Maine and to Fredericton and Saint John in New Brunswick.

He considers himself lucky.

“I would have gone on to St. John’s, Newfoundland,” he said, “if Fredericton and St. John’s had played a sixth game. Mercifully, that didn’t happen.”

Fredericton ended the series Thursday night, beating St. John’s 2-0.

The job doesn’t take LaRue to the ends of the earth but he has seen the end of the continent.

“In St. John’s you can stand on the coast and know you’re as far east in North America as you can go,” he said. “You’re closer to London than Spokane.”

He’s well-traveled for a kid who saw his first hockey game at 10, when his father took him to the Coliseum for a Spokane Jets game. It was senior amateur hockey and LaRue loved it, eventually playing at that level.

He’s gone beyond it as an official.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I never started out with dreams of being a referee. I wanted to play in the National Hockey League. When that wasn’t going to happen this became a tremendous opportunity to stay close to a game I have a real passion for.

“I’m fortunate to make a living doing something that most people don’t consider work.”

It’s a living most people don’t consider, period.

“You’re out there with 40 hockey players and 20,000 fans, and nobody really cares for you,” LaRue said. “The three of us, the two linesmen and the referee, depend on teamwork. Other than that, yeah, you do feel like a bit of an island out there.”

A comfort zone develops over time, he added.

“You learn that that’s part of the game and you’re not necessarily going to be friends with people,” he said. “One of the biggest things is the loneliness. You don’t travel as a team (with other officials).”

Although LaRue has yet to crack the select company of referees who do nothing but NHL games - he’s called only two National League games in this lockout-shortened season - his resume is long.

After three years refereeing WHL games, LaRue did the ‘88 Olympics and the Canada Cup in ‘92. His initial NHL assignment came on March 26, 1991, with Boston at Quebec.

“The amazing thing to me was the speed of the game,” LaRue said. “It’s pretty good hockey at the minor-league level but the NHL is so much faster. I’m not sure you can tell just watching, but when you’re on the ice it’s real obvious.

“That first game you’re just trying not to screw up. You learn to focus on the game and not get caught up in the surroundings. The puck draws attention from a spectator and as an official you have to be careful not to get caught up in that.

“Lots of things go on away from the play that are important, that as fan you wouldn’t watch because you’re not trained to watch.”

The toughest call in hockey?

“Any call that disqualifies a player,” he said. “There’s a fine and potential suspension. That’s difficult.

“The other thing is, the play in the NHL is so good there are gray areas in restraining-type fouls. Holding or interference are restraining-type fouls. It’s a floating type of thing. Different games present different situations.”

In other words the league has a tolerance policy. As in pro basketball, rules are stretched - some violations are tolerated to encourage the flow of the game.

LaRue won’t say that, other than to comment, “Each year the league tries to give us guidance as far as emphasis and those sorts of things, but we’re not given any specific guidelines to let things go.”

His favorite minor-league stop?

“Phoenix, because I can play golf in January.

“I’ve always enjoyed Hershey, Pa., too. It’s one of the original American Hockey League cities. It’s a real old building with rabid fans. A Saturday night in Hershey is something else.

“Rochester has a lot of the same rich heritage. The team has been there forever. There’s a longstanding passion in Rochester for the game.”

Spokane has carved a bit of a reputation as a hockey town. Scott Levins of Spokane plays with the NHL Ottawa Senators. LaRue is a big-league official. The junior team here moves into a new building and a new era come September.

“Some of the success of the Spokane Chiefs is a credit to guys who played here, to the old Comets and Jets and Flyers ” LaRue said. “They started the tradition in this town and deserve credit for it.

“The Bretts and the people they have running the junior team do a fantastic job, but I think their work is made easier by the fact that there were a lot of well-respected hockey people here before Bobby Brett came to town.

“The Buddy Bodmans. Mr. (Gus) Bouten, when he owned the team and resurrected it. Al Rollins. Al got me started in refereeing. He made some phone calls to suggest they look at me.”

LaRue is home for a couple of days before heading back out for the second round of the AHL playoffs. He says he’s not sure if there’s an NHL game down the stretch for him.

Both NHL assignments Calgary and Los Angeles at Anaheim - were smooth-running events, he said, nothing like negating an important goal by The Great One.

Gretzky, by the way, broke Howe’s record a week or so after that night in Los Angeles.

He didn’t need - and didn’t get - an assist from the referee.