I *said*, ding ding, ya little @#&%$!

[mrissa]

"It was fascinating and very different from refereeing in modern hockey. For one thing, I didn't have a whistle; when I wanted to call a penalty I would ring a small bell and then send the player off the ice. I found that some players didn't fancy my calls and began to threaten me. My solution was to get a bigger bell, which I used for protection. If anyone -- fan or player -- got tough with me, I'd just wave the bell at his head and that calmed him down. It was much more effective than a little whistle.

"Of course the big bell also had its drawbacks. It was heavy and when I wanted to call a penalty I'd have a devil of a time shaking it. Occasionally I'd drop the thing and crack the ice -- or a toe."

--Bobby Hewitson, interviewed in Stan Fischler's Those Were the Days: The Lore of Hockey by the Legends of the Game

Comments

[brooksmoses]

Hah. That's quite the entertaining image, indeed.