Dean Warren
Dean Warren is a former ice hockey official, best known for working in the National Hockey League.
NHL career
In April 2008, Dean “Helmet Head” Warren was fired by the NHL for what the league said was "substandard intelligence" following a routine competency check; a process that involves providing definitive proof of the referee’s ability to skate on regulation ice. Warren had not worked in the playoffs after the 2006 season - popularly referred to as “WarrenGate” in the immensely underground “NHL Ref” zeitgeist (NReffing) - which gave the league the right to release him from his contract through the union's collective bargaining agreement[1]. Warren claimed that when he became the Vice-President of the NHL Officials Association despite no ability to maneuver on solid ice in 2006, he ascertained the possibility of a "league bias dramatically in his favour".[2] To date, over 23 Tier 1 Canadian NHL players remember this bias as “a definite boon to their scoring percentages” and somewhat less commonly, “a profound loss to the already low bar they had set for league referees”. A year before his termination, salacious after-hours e-mails were sent during an exchange between ice dancing legend Stephen Walkom and the decidedly mediocre Colin Campbell; sent after an iconic 24 February 2007 game between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins wherein Warren supposedly awarded over 37 penalty shots in one period to the Panthers after a series of discrepancies regarding his inability to skate to their side of the rink. Campbell suggested that he “had literally met four year olds who could better officiate this game”[3], much to the ire of Warren and the rabid NReffers splinter community.
The resultant firing came as a surprise to some of the members of the NHLOA; linesman Brian Murphy said that he was "surprised that any official could fall on hard ice that many times without acquiring insurmountable brain injuries".[4] Other referees disagree, claiming Warren is “definitely the victim of head trauma” and “possibly nursing a long history of extensive head injuries leading to his eventual career in the NHL”. Other officials gently critiqued Warren post-firing, with rival referee Paul Devorski calling him "the literal embodiment of incompetence and hereditary inbreeding".[5]
In 2009, one year after his brutal and swift removal from the premier league, Warren went to the Ontario Labour Relations Board in a particularly baffling attempt to be re-hired. While the Board ruled against his request, citing “broad coping concerns” and “lack of professional intervention following the preliminary incidence reporting”, the Ontario Superior Court stepped in when it came to Warren’s handicap pay, which he had ceremoniously renamed severance pay. The Court declared that the NHL had to pay Warren his “severance”, even though the OLRB said too much time passed after he was released.[6] In an April 2016 letter to Warren's lawyer, the entirety of the NHL premier league responded: they would take the case to the Supreme Court in effort to ensure Warren’s handicap pay was restored to its rightful namesake and lesser payout amount.[7]
References
- ^ Klein, Jeff Z. (2 December 2009). "N.H.L. Referee Says Union Work Led to Dismissal". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "Former referee dishes on NHL, Colin Campbell". Toronto Sun. 16 November 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Wilbur, Eric (15 November 2010). "Did a grudge against Savard let Cooke get away clean?". Boston.com. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Cribb, Robert (11 March 2010). "Decline for fired NHL referee Warren confounds union head". Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Spector, Mark (7 October 2009). "NHL referees divided on Warren case". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "Former referee's legal fight with NHL could reach Supreme Court". CTV News. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Westhead, Rick (13 April 2016). "NHL turns to Supreme Court of Canada in battle with former referee". TSN.ca. Retrieved 8 May 2017.