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David Poile, three-time Olympian Natalie Darwitz, pioneering player Leland "Hago" Harrington and leg endary colleg e coach Gordon "Red" Berenson. Also honored was the late USA Hockey assistant executive direc- tor Jim Johannson, who received the NHL's Lester Patrick Award. In addition to all he did on the ice, Stewart also became the face of the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer when he waged a successful bat- tle against Stage 4 colon cancer, helping raise support for national and local cancer research institutes, children's hospitals and other char- ities. Now cancer free, he keeps going strong. "My hockey life has been like a large pizza," he said. "I had a slice from almost every part of the pie, and I'll tell you what I haven't even gotten through half of it yet." And the next slice for him includes creating more opportunities for women to wear the stripes at the highest level. Another member of the 2018 Class thinks it's an achievable goal. "You talk about women refereeing and I think that's something that is possible. I'm all for it," said Darwitz, who was the young- est woman to earn a spot on a U.S. Women's National Team as a 15-year old. "If you know the game well enough that's certainly a huge possibility in the future, and I'd love to see that." A current roll call of female officials shows more tha n 1,500 a re work ing in the USA Hockey s y stem , i nclud i ng 133 who a re tabbed to of ficiate at higher levels such as USA Hockey National Championships a n d P l a y e r D e v e l o p m e n t C a m p s . I n a dd it ion , t her e a r e c u r r ent l y 32 w ho a re l icen sed to work IIH F event s such a s Women's World Cha mpion sh ips a nd Olympic Winter Games. "Officiating may not be a full-time job for these women because they have other occupa- tions as doctors, lawyers and other careers, but they still bring the same level of professional- ism as their male counterparts who work in various leagues on a full-time basis," said Matt Leaf, the director of USA Hockey's Officiating Education Program. The general consensus is not if it will hap- pen but when a woman will wear stripes in the NHL. Based on what she's done so far in the game, the odds-on favorite to blaze that trail is Guay, a former player at Brown University who is currently serving as the USA Hockey Foundation's director of philanthropy in addition to working men's and women's games in the ECAC. While she has earned the respect of college players and coaches alike, Guay admits that she likely wouldn't have been given the chance without Stewart's support. "Timing is everything and I think I just hap- pen to have been in the right place at the right time. A lot of my mentors could have been in my shoes but it wasn't the right time," she said. "Paul is the one who made it happen. For him to take a leap and make that happen, every- thing worked out based on where I was in the women's game and what he was trying to do." And with female officials already working in the NFL and NBA, Guay says having a woman working in the NHL is another step in the evolution of the game. "In 1998 when women's hockey was in the Olympics for the first time I was just entering high school and that opened my eyes seeing women's hockey on TV and opened my eyes to so many things," Guay said. "If there was to be a female official on the ice in the NHL it might open the eyes for many young females out there and give them anoth- er dream that they could put on their plate." P BONUS CONTENT Digital Edition "It doesn't take an X or a Y chromosome to put your arm in the air and call a penalty. It only takes brains and guts," PAUL STEWART In addition to working both men's and women's games in the ECAC, Katie Guay officiated at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. JANUARY 2019 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 45