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Originally Posted by ThisIsAnOutrage
Just wondering if there are any old stories about suspicious officiating/bribes or weird things like a player working as a ref during season.
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There certainly are, though most of that stuff happened before the NHL got started.
In the days when hockey was strictly an amateur sport, players often moonlighted as referees. Shenanigans ensued.
Fred Chittick was the goalie for the Ottawa Hockey Club (later known as the Silver Seven, then the Senators) in the 1890s. In 1899, he refereed a game between the Quebec Bulldogs and the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. The Bulldogs played an extremely violent game, and the MAAA were incensed that Chittick just let it happen. With 12 minutes to go, the MAAA quit the game and conceded the forfeit, accusing Chittick of being drunk. He threatened to sue the club for defamation.
A month later, Chittick gave up 16 goals in a game and was replaced by a prospect named Bouse Hutton (now in the Hall of Fame). Chittick was so mad, he quit the team in protest. It is not recorded that anybody missed him, on or off the ice.