Tipped Off
08-29-2005, 12:29 PM
From the Everett Herald
http://heraldnet.com/stories/05/08/28/100spo_sleeper001.cfm
Raising Wheat
Torrie Wheat has learned to appreciate the referees and linesmen that are a constant part of his life - on and off the ice. The Everett Silvertips' career scoring leader lives with Vaughn and Lisa Rody and their two sons during the season. Vaughn Rody is a linesman in the National Hockey League.
Pity Torrie Wheat this Western Hockey League season.
The fact that the Silvertips' 20-year-old center, a mainstay since the team's inception in 2003, has to put up with horrid calls from referees and linesmen for the preseason, regular season and playoffs is as unbearable as it gets.
But now, he has to leave the ice and go home to his Everett billets, Vaughan and Lisa Rody, along with their two sons, Bryson, 5, and Owen 3.
Nice, eh? Sounds like the perfect family unit, eh?
Vaughan Rody is a linesman for the NHL.
Let the melees begin.
Where's the respect for last season's Silvertips assistant captain? Wheat has played in more games (131) has scored more goals (33), has more assists (45) for more points (78) than any other Silvertip. Is it bad karma? How does this happen?
They get along. And they get along really, really well.
"He's a great guy," Wheat said. "They're awesome people."
"I'll tell you what," Rody said. "Torrie is a class act. As great a hockey player as Torrie is, he's even a better human being."
Holy Pat Robertson! Talk about an about-face!
Before you blow the whistle on both - two minutes in the penalty box for blatant acting - consider that it all may be on the level. Wheat is one of the more congenial guys in the Western Hemisphere to everyone but Silvertips opponents. Rody's also a piece of work, one highly skilled in finding humor in virtually everything.
"The family and I will go for a walk - I'm home for seven months of the year," Rody said. "I think my neighbors must look at us and think I sell narcotics because they ask why I'm home all the time."
Rody was home a lot last season during the NHL strike, which, in a way, he and Wheat got to know each other. To help make up for missing income, Rody started a physical-conditioning company called Professional Edge Training. They met through Blaine and Ann McNeill, who are billets for Silvertips center Mark Kress. Soon, Rody asked Wheat to help in his business.
"We got along really well and eventually they asked me if I wanted to live with them," Wheat said. "It's worked out well."
Rody was a WHL official for 10 years, which precipitated his move from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the Seattle area. While working the Western circuit, the NHL followed Rody's progress and put him on a short list of possible hires. The league hired Rody in 2000.
"It's everything you dream about," Rody said. "It just came into fruition."
Not surprisingly, his time in the league has yielded more than a few stories. Although Wheat recommended we ask Rody about a run-in with star center Jeremy Roenick, Rody protests that the story "might have some syllables you don't want to put in there."
Instead, he tells of Ziggy Palffy of the Los Angeles Kings.
It was one of the first games Rody had officiated. He'd just called back-to-back offsides penalties on Palffy, who stared at him as though Rody had just asked him to dance, but said nothing.
Soon after, Palffy received an illegal two-line pass, but had broken away from the defense and was ready to send a screaming shot past the opposing goalie. When he heard Rody's whistle, Palffy turned around and skated like Eric Heiden at Rody, just in front of the Kings' bench.
" (Blankety-blank)," Palffy screamed, "you've been picking on me for the last three years!"
Rody countered, "Three years? Gimme a break. I've only been in the league three weeks."
Still, Rody says, it's a good life, even with the 12-day road trips and the occasional verbal dust-up with players. Now in his sixth year, Rody has built some seniority in the league and has officiated in the NHL playoffs all but one of his years.
"I wouldn't trade my life with anybody," he said. "It's something I've dreamed about since I was 14. I feel very blessed. "
Wheat said the stories have made him see officials in a new light.
"It's really opened my eyes up to the game through the referees' eyes," he said. "A lot of players don't give refs credit at all and put a lot of heat on them. It's opened my eyes to what the refs have to go through to make it to the professional level. It's just as difficult as being there as a player. It makes me respect referees a lot more."
Hoo, boy. Let's see how long THIS lasts.
http://heraldnet.com/stories/05/08/28/100spo_sleeper001.cfm
Raising Wheat
Torrie Wheat has learned to appreciate the referees and linesmen that are a constant part of his life - on and off the ice. The Everett Silvertips' career scoring leader lives with Vaughn and Lisa Rody and their two sons during the season. Vaughn Rody is a linesman in the National Hockey League.
Pity Torrie Wheat this Western Hockey League season.
The fact that the Silvertips' 20-year-old center, a mainstay since the team's inception in 2003, has to put up with horrid calls from referees and linesmen for the preseason, regular season and playoffs is as unbearable as it gets.
But now, he has to leave the ice and go home to his Everett billets, Vaughan and Lisa Rody, along with their two sons, Bryson, 5, and Owen 3.
Nice, eh? Sounds like the perfect family unit, eh?
Vaughan Rody is a linesman for the NHL.
Let the melees begin.
Where's the respect for last season's Silvertips assistant captain? Wheat has played in more games (131) has scored more goals (33), has more assists (45) for more points (78) than any other Silvertip. Is it bad karma? How does this happen?
They get along. And they get along really, really well.
"He's a great guy," Wheat said. "They're awesome people."
"I'll tell you what," Rody said. "Torrie is a class act. As great a hockey player as Torrie is, he's even a better human being."
Holy Pat Robertson! Talk about an about-face!
Before you blow the whistle on both - two minutes in the penalty box for blatant acting - consider that it all may be on the level. Wheat is one of the more congenial guys in the Western Hemisphere to everyone but Silvertips opponents. Rody's also a piece of work, one highly skilled in finding humor in virtually everything.
"The family and I will go for a walk - I'm home for seven months of the year," Rody said. "I think my neighbors must look at us and think I sell narcotics because they ask why I'm home all the time."
Rody was home a lot last season during the NHL strike, which, in a way, he and Wheat got to know each other. To help make up for missing income, Rody started a physical-conditioning company called Professional Edge Training. They met through Blaine and Ann McNeill, who are billets for Silvertips center Mark Kress. Soon, Rody asked Wheat to help in his business.
"We got along really well and eventually they asked me if I wanted to live with them," Wheat said. "It's worked out well."
Rody was a WHL official for 10 years, which precipitated his move from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the Seattle area. While working the Western circuit, the NHL followed Rody's progress and put him on a short list of possible hires. The league hired Rody in 2000.
"It's everything you dream about," Rody said. "It just came into fruition."
Not surprisingly, his time in the league has yielded more than a few stories. Although Wheat recommended we ask Rody about a run-in with star center Jeremy Roenick, Rody protests that the story "might have some syllables you don't want to put in there."
Instead, he tells of Ziggy Palffy of the Los Angeles Kings.
It was one of the first games Rody had officiated. He'd just called back-to-back offsides penalties on Palffy, who stared at him as though Rody had just asked him to dance, but said nothing.
Soon after, Palffy received an illegal two-line pass, but had broken away from the defense and was ready to send a screaming shot past the opposing goalie. When he heard Rody's whistle, Palffy turned around and skated like Eric Heiden at Rody, just in front of the Kings' bench.
" (Blankety-blank)," Palffy screamed, "you've been picking on me for the last three years!"
Rody countered, "Three years? Gimme a break. I've only been in the league three weeks."
Still, Rody says, it's a good life, even with the 12-day road trips and the occasional verbal dust-up with players. Now in his sixth year, Rody has built some seniority in the league and has officiated in the NHL playoffs all but one of his years.
"I wouldn't trade my life with anybody," he said. "It's something I've dreamed about since I was 14. I feel very blessed. "
Wheat said the stories have made him see officials in a new light.
"It's really opened my eyes up to the game through the referees' eyes," he said. "A lot of players don't give refs credit at all and put a lot of heat on them. It's opened my eyes to what the refs have to go through to make it to the professional level. It's just as difficult as being there as a player. It makes me respect referees a lot more."
Hoo, boy. Let's see how long THIS lasts.