Looking back: Jim Schoenfeld vs Don Koharski
Going Five Hole’s post on the NHL Officials Association site got me thinking about that age old incident between the New Jersey Devils‘ head coach Jim Schoenfeld and NHL ref Don Koharski.
To refresh your memory, during the 1988 playoffs, Koharski was reffing a game between the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils. Schoenfeld was less than impressed with the quality of the officiating and waited for Koharski after the the game to “discuss” the matter with Koharski. Their discussion disintegrated into a screaming match with Schoenfeld eventually shoving Koharski (ok, it does look like Koharski tripped, but that’s been debated to death, and it’s more fun to say he was shoved) and uttering the now famous “you fat pig”, quickly followed by the even more famous “have another doughnut”.
Naturally, because this is the NHL, everything was caught by nearby cameras:
The NHL suspended Schoenfeld, but he was re-instated after the Devils got a court-order. As a result, NHL referees stood by Koharski and boycotted the playoff game. The league had to use replacement officials for the game.
As silly as our refs can be, at least the NHL has never had to deal with an NBA-type ref scandal. Yet.
Don Koharski still refs in the NHL and runs an Officiating and Development Camp in Canada in the summer.
And of course, the incident was immortalized in the movie Wayne’s World, with a character called Officer Koharski (police… doughnuts… c’mon it’s funny!).
New Jersey Devils, Jim Schoenfeld, Don Koharski, Boston Bruins
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