Francois St. Laurent

Francois St. Laurent
Born (1977-06-26) June 26, 1977
Greenfield Park, Quebec
Occupation Ice hockey referee

Francois St. Laurent (born 26 June 1977[1]) is a Canadian ice hockey referee, currently working in the National Hockey League. In the summer of 1999, during a camp held by Ron Fournier, he told RDS that his goal was to make it to the NHL.[2] He became a Level VI referee during a seminar in November of 2001, held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[3]

He has worn sweater number 38 since joining the league full-time in the 2009-10 NHL season, carrying it over from the American Hockey League after six seasons.

Career in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League

St. Laurent joined the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1999, working 30 regular-season games and seven playoff games as a linesman. In the 2000-2001 season, he became a referee and worked in a total of 115 regular-season games and 24 playoff games between the 00-01 and 02-03 seasons.[4] He worked the President's Cup finals in both 2002[5] and 2003.[6]

St. Laurent worked the 2002 Memorial Cup, including the final game between the Victoriaville Tigres of the QMJHL and the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League.[7][8]

Career in American Hockey League

St. Laurent's first regular-season American Hockey League game came on 11 October 2003, in a game between the Providence Bruins and Worcester Ice Cats.[9] During his stint in the AHL, St. Laurent worked the Calder Cup finals in 2008[10] and 2009.[11] He also worked the AHL All-Star Classic in 2009, held in Worcester, Massachusetts.[12]

Career in National Hockey League

St. Laurent was hired by the National Hockey League in the fall of 2003,[13] as one of six hirings that year. His first regular-season National Hockey League game came on 10 November 2005, in a game between the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins.[14] He worked in ten other games that season, bouncing back and forth between the NHL and the American Hockey League. He would make the jump to the NHL officiating roster full-time at the start of the 2009-10 NHL season,[15] with his first game coming on 2 October 2009, in a game between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.[16]

As of the conclusion of the 2014-15 NHL season, St. Laurent has worked in 482 regular-season games and 21 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Notable games

Capitals/Flyers line brawl, 13-14 season

St. Laurent worked a game between the Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers on 1 November 2013. After a third period goal scored by Washington's Joel Ward, a fight broke out between Capitals player Tom Wilson and Flyers player Wayne Simmonds. As the fight was taking place, Flyers goaltender Ray Emery skated down the ice to challenge Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, which Holtby declined. When Emery said "just protect yourself",[17] St. Laurent attempted to stop the fight, but couldn't when Emery began to punch Holtby. St. Laurent stopped various Capitals players from jumping in to stop Emery and did not stop the fight when Holtby fell to the ice. Emery was assessed penalties for leaving the crease (2 minutes), instigating (2 minutes), fighting (5 minutes), a ten-minute misconduct, and a game misconduct for his actions.[18][19]

Through the week after the fight, the opinions about St. Laurent's actions were varied from different members of the media. Yahoo's Greg Wyshynski called St. Laurent a "joke" on the Monday afterwards, saying that he thought St. Laurent was "controlling the game".[20] Calmer opinions came from Elliotte Friedman (then of CBC), who said that St. Laurent "tried to stop" the two combatants, yet "backed out" when the fight happened;[21] and Darren Dreger of TSN, who said that St. Laurent "couldn't rely on the linesmen" because of the multiple fights.[22]

Lightning/Canadiens, 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs

On 22 April 2014, St. Laurent worked Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning.[23] During the second intermission, CBC's Ron MacLean spoke up about St. Laurent's participation in the game, saying that he "would not have been a popular choice for the Tampa Bay Lightning".[24] MacLean's comment stemmed from an incident in Game Three, where a goal for Tampa Bay was waived off by another French-Canadian referee. He had also said that due to the Lightning coach's comments about the call, St. Laurent was thrown into Game Four "to send a message", when he had been assigned to the game before the playoffs began. MacLean apologized for his comments later that night.

Blackhawks/Capitals Winter Classic

St. Laurent worked the 2015 NHL Winter Classic, a game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals held at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.[25] It was his first assignment to the Winter Classic.

Jets/Lightning, 15-16 season

Late in the second period of a game between the Winnipeg Jets and Tampa Bay Lightning, played on 18 February 2016, Anton Stralman delivered what appeared to be a questionable hit on Bryan Little. St. Laurent and partner Dan O'Rourke did not issue penalties on the hit. (Blake Wheeler and Stralman would get penalties for roughing, while Stralman would not be suspended.[26] Little ended up missing the rest of the regular season because of a T6 vertebrae fracture.[27]) Upon hearing that there would be no further penalties towards Stralman, Jets coach Paul Maurice took exception to what he had heard from the referees. His actions towards the on-ice officials would result in a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.[28]

Upon coming back to the bench for the start of the third period, Maurice continued his rant towards the referees. Maurice would be sent back to the locker room before the third began, as he was ejected by St. Laurent.[29] TSN, the network covering the game from the Jets, showed St. Laurent looking at the bench. Another shot showed what appeared to be him laughing about something; the commentators for TSN thought it was Maurice's tirade that was the reason behind the laughter. Said Maurice after the game: "I would say that would then have been consisent with their overall demeanor regarding the incident."[30]

Maurice was fined $5,000 for his comments.[31]

International tournaments

During the 2002-2003 ice hockey season, St. Laurent was assigned to work the 2003 IIHF World Championship Division 1A tournament, held in Budapest, Hungary.[32] He worked each day of the tournament, with five games in the five days of play.

Off-ice contributions

Between 2013 and 2015, St. Laurent ran a summer development camp for referees. Camps were held in Saint-Constant, Quebec in 2014[33] and Brossard, Quebec in 2015.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "Francois St. Laurent's biography". NHL Officials Association. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "L'avenir est rose pour les arbitres". rds.ca (in French). 23 August 1999. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "CANADIAN HOCKEY ASSOCIATION LEVEL VI OFFICIATING SEMINAR ATTRACTS TOP OFFICIALS FROM CANADA AND THE WORLD TO HALIFAX, NS". Hockey Canada. 5 November 2001. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "St. Laurent's QMJHL statistics". lhjmq-records.qc.ca. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs Victoriaville Tigres, 2002 President's Cup final". lhjmq-records.qc.ca. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Hull Olympiques vs Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL game #784 / 02-03 QMJHL season". lhjmq-records.qc.ca. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Victoriaville Tigres vs Kootenay Ice, 2002 CHL Memorial Cup final". Mastercard Memorial Cup. 26 May 2002. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "St-Laurent pourrait faire le saut chez les pros dès l'an prochain". rds.ca (in French). 29 May 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Providence Bruins vs Worcester Ice Cats, AHL game #22 / 03-04 AHL season". Pointstreak. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Previewing the 2008 Calder Cup Finals". theahl.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Moose, Bears ready to meet in 2009 Calder Cup Finals". theahl.com. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "AHL Weekly Release: Stars set to shine in Worcester". theahl.com. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "New NHL Officials". NHL Officials Association. 12 September 2003. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins; NHL game #237 / 05-06 NHL season". NHL.com. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "St-Laurent & Walkom". NHL Officials Association. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins; NHL game #6 / 09-10 NHL season". NHL.com. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  17. ↑ Gormley, Chuck (1 November 2013). "Emery on Holtby: 'He didn't want to fight'". CSN Mid-Atlantic. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers; NHL game #191 / 13-14 NHL season (game summary)". NHL.com. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers; NHL game #191 / 13-14 NHL season (full play-by-play)". NHL.com. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  20. ↑ Wyshynski, Greg (4 November 2013). "Blame referee, Gary Bettman for Ray Emery skating on goalie assault". Puck Daddy. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  21. ↑ Friedman, Elliotte (6 November 2013). "30 Thoughts: Manny Malholtra celebrates return to NHL". cbc.ca. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Insider Trading: Brodeur, trade talks, and goalie fights". tsn.ca. 6 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  23. ↑ "Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens; NHL playoff game #124 / 13-14 NHL playoffs". NHL.com. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  24. ↑ Perreaux, Les (22 April 2014). "Ron MacLean apologizes after French-speaking referee comment". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  25. ↑ "NHLOA News - 2015 Bridgestone Winter Classic". NHL Officials Association. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  26. ↑ Campbell, Tim (19 February 2016). "Little in limbo, Stralman gets off scot-free". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  27. ↑ "Jets' Little out for the regular season". tsn.ca. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  28. ↑ "Winnipeg Jets vs Tampa Bay Lightning; NHL game #862 / 15-16 NHL season". NHL.com. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  29. ↑ Wazny, Adam (18 February 2016). "Maurice's emotional display no accident". cbc.ca. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  30. ↑ Wyman, Ted (18 February 2016). "Jets 'played like men:' Maurice". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  31. ↑ Mount, Dan (29 February 2016). "Winnipeg Coach Paul Maurice Fined $5K". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  32. ↑ IIHF News Release (PDF). International Ice Hockey Federation. March 2003. p. 8. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  33. ↑ "LE SÉMINAIRE DE PERFECTIONNEMENT DES ARBITRES DE FRANÇOIS ST-LAURENT EST DE RETOUR !". officiels.hockey.qc.ca (in French). 4 April 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  34. ↑ "LE SÉMINAIRE DE PERFECTIONNEMENT DES ARBITRES DE FRANÇOIS ST-LAURENT EST DE RETOUR !". officiels.hockey.qc.ca (in French). 15 March 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.