Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn ImagesWhen half-blind Bill Chadwick was named NHL referee every team owner on the league's Board of Governors knew that The Big Whistle had only one good eye but nobody said anything about it.
"Well, not at first," Bill chuckled, "but when I was calling the seventh game of the 1945 Stanley Cup Final between Detroit and Toronto, something happened that was unpleasant. The score was tied 1-1 late in the third period when I called a crosschecking penalty against Syd Howe of Detroit.
"Babe Pratt scored a power play goal for the Leafs and that won the Cup for them. That infuriated Detroit's coach Jack Adams and the Red Wings owner Jim Norris. The way they got even with me was demanding that I be sent for an eye examination before every season."
Neither Norris nor any of the other owners dared fire Chadwick because by the end of World War 2 in 1945, Bill had established himself as the NHL's best arbiter.
Chadwick: "My eye condition didn't hamper me. I had 20-20 vision in my good left eye and was on top of the play. I was never away from the net when there was a play on goal and I didn't have much trouble from the players -- except for a few!"
Maurice (Rocket) Richard of the Canadiens and "Terrible" Ted Lindsay of the Red Wings were Chadwick's main headaches. "It was because of their personal makeup," Bill told me. "And their character. They would have done it to anybody."
The Big Whistle concluded his astonishing career in 1955 at the age of 39.
"I believed that I should retire while I was on top," he concluded, "and that's what I did."
Bill Chadwick certainly was and this was confirmed when he was honored as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame!
