Official Loved Giving Back to Community
November 10, 2020
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
MORENCI – Before referee Jerry Hoffman died that Friday night, he knew the two football teams were going to gather in the center of the football field to pray for him.
“They were starting to take him off the field and I went to him and told him that we were going to circle up and pray for him,” Sand Creek football coach Scott Gallagher said. “He said, ‘Thank you Scott. I appreciate your faith.’”
A short time later, while he was being readied to be transported from ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital in Adrian to Toledo Hospital, Hoffman, 78, died. A football referee for decades, Hoffman’s last assignment ended up being the Oct. 30 Sand Creek-Pittsford playoff game.
During the game Hoffman, who was one of the line judges, dropped to a knee and collapsed. At times he was unconscious on the field. Medical personnel raced onto the field to assist him. At one point he said he wanted to sit up, but quickly went back to the ground.
“They responded immediately,” said Sand Creek athletic director Robert Wright, who has known Hoffman for more than 35 years. “They were right there with him. When I got to him, I was able to tell him that I would call Dan (his son). There was this calmness through it all because we had the right people there to take care of it.”
His son, a longtime area educator, football coach and track coach, Dan Hoffman, said he and his family were touched by how the players, coaches and fans from the two schools came together.
“What a blessing we have in these small schools,” said Dan Hoffman. “I don’t think they could have responded in a better way.”
Jerry Hoffman was a native of Wauseon, Ohio. He and his wife, Mary Ann, moved to Morenci in 1966. He worked at a variety of jobs, from a chemical company in Weston to being self-employed for a long time. While not working, he did things like garden. One of his passions was being involved in sports as an umpire and referee.
“He had probably been to Sand Creek hundreds of times to referee a football game or baseball game or basketball,” Wright said. “His heart was always with kids. He was a great guy – always had a smile on his face.”
Dan Hoffman said his dad was a referee when he was young, then stepped away from it when he and his siblings were in high school to watch them participate in sports. He picked it back up a few years ago and was not really thinking about getting out of it despite being 78 years old.
“He was a hard worker,” Dan said. “He taught us that. He loved many things, but being a referee was one of them. We would talk about him retiring, and he said he wanted to referee football until he was 80. This year he thought he was going to cut back on basketball, but then his schedule started filling up.
“He loved being out there, out with the kids and giving back.”
Always a devout Christian, Hoffman became a substitute pastor at Canandaigua Community Church in recent years, then interim pastor and finally, pastor.
“He kept living, that’s for sure,” Dan Hoffman said. “He always wanted to push things. Everything he did, he did to extreme. He taught us a lot."
Kay Johnson, a former Morenci athletic director and softball coach for more than 40 years, said she welcomed seeing Hoffman come to Morenci to referee a sporting event.
“He really loved doing it,” she said. “He was there for the right reasons, the kids. He was always really kind. He’d arrive early and always talk with the kids.”
Jerry and Mary Ann had seven children, 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. They were foster parents to more than 20 children over the years.
“He rubbed a lot of elbows with a lot of people, especially in Morenci,” Dan said. “He volunteered a lot, served on some boards. He definitely made an impact on his community.”
Sand Creek and Pittsford were in the middle of their playoff game on Ernie Ayers Field at Sand Creek when Hoffman collapsed. Gallagher and Pittsford head coach Mike Burger met and decided to circle the players up. The photo has been widely circulated on social media the last couple of days.
One of Sand Creek’s captains, Jackson Marsh, helped organize the prayer and spoke to the two teams.
“I saw the referees blowing the whistle and stopping the play,” said Marsh, a senior. “Someone said they saw him grab his heart. When I heard that I was like ‘Oh, no. That is not good.’”
Marsh said the two teams went to their respective sidelines and he and a teammate began praying. When the teams came together on the field, he led the prayer.
“I just prayed the Lord be with him and watch over his family,” Marsh said. “You hear about things like that, but you never expect to go through it. For me, it did not really click until after the game and we were walking off. That’s when it hit me what had happened.”
Hoffman said he saw the photo on social media late Friday, and it brought tears to his eyes.
“My dad loved great displays of sportsmanship, and I’m sure he would have loved to see that,” Dan Hoffman said. “When I saw the picture of the two teams circling up, I just thought it was an unbelievable display of compassion. Our family was touched by that.”
PHOTO: (Top) The Sand Creek and Pittsford football teams meet at midfield to pray for official Jerry Hoffman. (Top photo courtesy of Red Letter Productions/Sand Creek High School. Head shot from obituary posted by Anderson Funeral Home.)
Retired NHL-er Back on Ice to Answer Call - By Making Them
By
Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
March 16, 2023
The most accomplished skater on the ice during Friday’s triple-overtime MHSAA Division 1 Semifinal hockey thriller between Hartland and Brighton was not wearing the school colors of either team.
In front of a packed house at Plymouth’s USA Hockey Arena, referee Bryan Smolinski was in stripes, just like the rest of his officiating crew.
In his former life, he pulled on plenty of sweaters before lacing up the skates. That happens when one logs more than 1,000 games, tallies nearly 300 goals (274) and close to 400 assists (377) with eight teams spanning a 15-year playing career in the National Hockey League.
So, how did the 52-year-old former star player find himself on the ice last weekend as one of the referees for the pinnacle weekend of this high school season? Good question, even for the man known as “Smoke” during his playing days.
“I was working in youth development programs a few years back and reached out to some Michigan guys I had connections with about other ways to help the game,” Smolinski said. “I called Kevin May just to chat and asked, ‘Hey, how’s your reffing going?’ He said, ‘You know, we’re down a little bit,’ then said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’ I said, ‘Not a chance,’” Smolinski laughed.
Never Say Never
May persisted, imploring his friend to skate with him during a Fall league at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills. After eight weeks, once a week, Smolinski had a revelation.
“I’m like, ‘I’m kind of diggin’ this,’” Smolinski said “So, I did all the testing, and the educational part of it, and I really enjoyed it. I got with Danny (DiCristofaro) and his group, and he put me in as much as he could, and I really started to get my feet wet.”
DiCristofaro is the assigner and referee-in-chief for the MHSAA’s Northeast Hockey Referees Association, and he has seen Smolinski’s growth first-hand.
“Obviously he’s got great instincts and a feel for the game, along with a wealth of experience, all of which has allowed him to climb the ladder quickly,” said DiCristofaro. “It’s been a joy to watch his growth as an official.”
Fast forward to last Friday, and there were Smolinski and May sharing duties as referees during the MHSAA Semifinal with linesmen Michael Andrews and Thomas Robbins.
In between, there has been a learning curve that still continues, but the jump to officiating was not quite as daunting as his introduction to the NHL.
“I was scared to death. My first game was against Mario Lemieux. I’m in the old Boston Garden and now I’m playing against these guys and it’s their job, and they’re out there trying to make a living,” Smolinski recalled.
The emotions were not running nearly as frenzied for his first game as an MHSAA official, obviously, yet respect came in a different form.
“I couldn’t pick the puck up, I was breathing heavily; it was Kevin and me doing a two-man game in Brighton,” Smolinski recalled. “There were a few high-end kids playing, and I’m thinking, ‘I’m dying here.’ You know, there’s no training for that first time.”
What that experience did, however, was revitalize Smolinski in a new way. His playing career is well documented, not only in the NHL, but around Michigan. He enjoyed an honor-laden career at Michigan State University from 1989-93 before joining the Boston Bruins (who had drafted him three years earlier) at the end of the ’93 NHL campaign. Even after his final season, with Montreal in 2007-08, he stayed in the game via men’s leagues, or coaching his son, Max.
Smolinski and his wife, Julie, have three daughters: Ashtyn (22), Jojo (16) and Rylen (12), along with Max, whom dad coached for seven years including during a national championship run with a Little Caesars U15 team in 2019. Max, 19, is now playing collegiately at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
So, for Smolinski, officiating offers a new chapter.
“Reffing brought back ... I wouldn’t say love of the game, because that’s always been there; it’s a different side of enjoying the game now. I have no horse in the race, my son’s off to college, my daughters are doing their thing; I wanted to find something new in the game,” Smolinski said. “I’ve coached, and I don’t want to do that. I found this, and I’ve stuck with it.”
Old College Ties
One of the great benefits of athletics at any level are the friendships made. For two kids who met in their first years on the MSU campus and forged a bond that lasts to this day, it’s amazing how their careers reached the pinnacle and have now come full circle.
Wes McCauley, an MSU teammate, is one of Smolinski’s best friends. After numerous years in the minor leagues, McCauley, like his friend, made it to the NHL. But McCauley made it as an official, working his first NHL game in 2003, when Smolinski was nearing the end of his playing career.
Their games lined up on just a few occasions in the NHL, and the two lobbied hard to have McCauley work Smolinski’s 1,000th career game in his final season with the Canadiens in 2007-08. The request, sadly, was denied by the league.
On the rare occasions when the friends did share the same ice, less than a handful by Smolinski’s count, it was McCauley who was forced to rebuff any attempts at fraternization. It’s just part of an official’s edict.
“For both of us, it was amazing; it was just great,” Smolinski said. “I’d say, ‘Hey man what’s up?’ and he says, ‘Can’t talk.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean, we talk all the time.’ Again, he’s like, ‘Can’t talk, get away from me.’ You know, it was just business.”
McCauley then reached the 1,000-game plateau himself in 2018 and is still going strong as a regular selection for playoff duties with nine Stanley Cup Finals assignments, including last year.
So, it should have been natural for Smolinski to go to his old friend immediately for officiating pointers once he joined the ranks, right? Well, maybe not immediately.
“I talk to Wes all the time, but I actually hid it from him right out of the gate because I didn’t want to take his razzing. Eventually it got out, and he was loving it. He started sending me whistles and visors and pants,” Smolinski said, grinning. “And none of it fit, you know, because I’m older and fatter, and he’s so damn skinny. So, I still had to go out and get all new gear.”
Both Sides Now
Having been to the top of his profession, now moving to the other side of that same mountain that his friend McCauley scaled, the respect has grown for those blowing the whistle.
“The preparation for officiating is much more mental,” Smolinski said. “Way more rules oriented. You’re always trying to get away with things that you can as a player; now you have to police that.”
Smolinski has a distinct advantage.
“I know everything they’re trying to do because I’ve done it. I know where you’re going with the puck, I know what kind of breakout you’re trying to do,” Smolinski said. “I have all the instincts, now I just try to stay out of the way and not ruin their game. The most fun is watching the game develop and the ups and downs. For me to be out there and enjoy it with them, that’s the fun part.”
Those who have played hockey at any level have a built-in advantage should they consider the officiating avocation: the ability to skate. Unlike officiating in any other sport, skating is a prerequisite. This makes the pool limited, and almost solely composed of former players. Smolinski offers this advice.
“I prefer sticking with high school because I think there’s more decorum, more administrative structure. Kids are playing for their schools, there’s loyalty there,” said Smolinski. “And there is more accountability. People need report to athletic directors and supervisors. Other levels can be more loosely governed, or a bit more maverick in nature. Moms and dads get involved more, coaches maybe know a little less,” said Smolinski.
He has, in fact, worked a handful of non-school games, and there’s a stark difference.
“I wanted to see what was going on, and I see it first-hand,” Smolinski said. “There are some crazy people and parents out there, and these guys are getting absolutely tortured. I’ve been tortured. There has to be a level of respect for what officials do. I think schools can rein that in a little more. All the guys I’ve met give up a lot of time and work hard because they love to do it and love the game.”
All sports need an assist from school administration and from those who once played the games to keep the officials recruitment moving in the right direction. People like Smolinski can help.
“He clearly doesn’t need to do this, and that’s what makes it so fantastic,” DiCristofaro said. “We need more people who have played – at any level – to do what he’s done and stay in the game as officials.”
Smolinski continues to promote the game in other ways as well. Currently, he is involved in the NHL’s Learn To Play initiative, which aims to inspire youth and welcome more families into the hockey community.
“We work hand-in-hand with the NHL Players Association for player development and industry growth,” Smolinski said. “Ages 5 to 9 are introduced to hockey, get head-to-toe gear and instruction, and meet some former players.”
The idea is to have fun first, which can translate into years and maybe even a lifetime in the sport. It’s a lifetime that has given Smolinski so much and continues to do so as he watches it unfold for others from his new vantage point.
PHOTOS (Top) MHSAA official Bryan Smolinski signals during Friday's Division 1 Semifinal between Brighton and Hartland. (2) Smolinski, a retired NHL standout, communicates with the Bulldogs' bench. (3) Smolinski keeps watch during game play. (4) Smolinski, third from left, with his crew: Michael Andrews, Kevin May and Thomas Robbins.