I'm not much of a NHL fan, certainly not enough to remember any officials, but I thought this was a great story regardless and that some might enjoy it too.
Pierre Racicot and Stephane Provost began a ritual on May 11, 1999, when Provost’s first daughter, Ashley, was born.
Racicot showed up at the Weston, Fla., hospital with a cooler of beer and the best friends and on-ice partners shared lots of laughs, talked excitedly about the future and toasted fatherhood as they anxiously awaited Ashley’s arrival.
Six months later, when Racicot’s son was ready to arrive, Provost dropped by the hospital with a cooler of beer. The 32-year-old NHL linesmen yukked it up over a couple of cold ones as they waited for Harrison to be born.
Five years later, when Provost’s wife, Sandra, was in labor with the couple’s second daughter, Reily, the tradition continued.
“The nurses looked at us and go, ‘OK, you guys, what’s this all about? Who brings beer to a hospital?’” Racicot recalls with a hearty laugh. “But that was our ritual. The doctor would come in and go, ‘OK, it’s time.’ I’d say, ‘All right, I’ll be outside.’ And Steph would say, ‘I’ll see you in a few minutes.’
“My God,” Racicot says, “Ashley and Reily … they were Daddy’s girls.”
That’s why, from the moment Racicot received the horrifying phone call in the early-morning hours of April 22, 2005, he made it his life’s work to ensure that his best friend’s proudest achievements would always be taken care of.
“He’s our guardian angel,” Ashley says. “Pierre’s honestly like our second dad.”
It’s been 16 years since Provost died in a motorcycle accident just a mile from his home. Saturday night, before the Tampa Bay Lightning-Florida Panthers game at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Racicot will join fellow NHL linesman Jonny Murray and referees Kelly Sutherland and Frederick L’Ecuyer at the center-ice faceoff dot just after the national anthem to perform the same pregame ritual that officials have done before every NHL game since.
They’ll tap their left arms. They’ll tap the NHL crest over their hearts. They’ll squeeze their fists together.
And, together, they’ll say, “Steph.”
Alone with his thoughts and for the final time as an NHL official, Racicot will then skate away and touch the patch on his shoulder where his best friend’s No. 72 used to be, then point to the sky.
“It’s always been my way of saying, ‘OK, Steph. You’re still here with me,’” Racicot says. “I think of Steph every day. And I thank him every day for being who I am today because he made me a way better person. He knew how to laugh, how to have fun. He took a big bite out of life.”
Racicot’s last game fittingly comes inside an arena that’s 15 minutes from the front door of his house and where he used to work many Panthers home games alongside his best friend, the bubbly, laugh-out-loud funny, fellow French Canadian.
In Val-d’Or, Quebec, where Sandra, Ashley and Reily Provost moved three years after Stephane’s death, the TV will be tuned into Racicot’s final game.
“We have friends here that text us every time, ‘Oh my God, did you see who’s the (linesman) tonight?’” Ashley Provost says. “My grandpa (Phil) is obsessed with hockey and he will always watch the games that Pierre is in. We love telling everybody, ‘Hey, we know him. He’s family to us. … He’s putting my sister and me through university.’”
When Racicot steps on the ice Saturday night, it’ll be his 1,880th regular-season game. That ranks 12th all-time among NHL linesmen, in spite of his losing a bunch of games because of three NHL lockouts and two shortened seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has officiated 254 playoff games and is tied for 10th all-time with 10 Stanley Cup Finals appearances. He worked the 2004 and 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, the 2009 All-Star Game in his hometown of Montreal and two outdoor games, including the 2012 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Flyers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Ask fellow officials about Racicot, and they’ll call him “the happiest man in hockey” and “the chairman of the fun committee.”
“He is so revved up for just going and doing the game,” says former referee Brad Watson, now an NHL officiating manager. “We got to work a lot of playoff games together. We worked multiple finals, and he’s the type of guy that wanted every series to go Game 7. He doesn’t want it to go 4. He wants the challenge and the excitement of working every game when it most matters. And he brought that into the dressing room and he brought that on the ice.
“He always has a big smile. It’s infectious. In fact, that was Steph to a T, too.”
That helps explain how Provost, a former firefighter, and Racicot, a former criminal psychologist in the Quebec prison system, became brothers in arms.
Back in the mid- to late-1990s and early 2000s, NHL linesmen often were paired together, so if the 6-foot-6 Racicot was assigned to a game, his buddy Provost would often be his sidekick.
They were the same age. They were both from Montreal. They were hired by the NHL a year apart, Racicot in 1993, Provost in 1994.
When the NHL was looking for officials to move to different parts of North America to make travel simpler, Racicot moved to South Florida in 1996. Provost followed a year later.
Racicot and Provost lived a mile apart. If they were assigned the same game, they’d travel together, whether it was car-pooling to Miami Arena or just around the corner from their Weston homes when the Panthers built their new barn in Sunrise, to Fort Lauderdale airport to catch a flight.
But it was during their 250-mile car rides across Alligator Alley on the way to Tampa where their friendship blossomed. They’d laugh and laugh and laugh.
“We would just talk about anything and everything,” Racicot says. “He taught me how to live life with a smile on my face. He was a big kid at heart.”
Provost became “Uncle Steph” to Harrison, now 21. Racicot and his wife, Kathy, who’s a fashion designer, became Reily’s godparents.
“Steph was such a fun human being, and an exceptional linesman,” Racicot says of his friend, who worked 695 games. “Right now, we hire a lot of ex-players that transition into officiating. Steph played major junior hockey. He played in the (Quebec League). He went to the Canadiens training camp, and we didn’t really have guys that played super high-level hockey back then. And he just loved everything about our job. He loved breaking up fights. We both did, and in the ’90s, there were a lot of them.”
‘He’s our guardian angel’: How retiring NHL linesman Pierre Racicot honors his fallen friend
A poker tournament, a beloved friend and a family in need come together as longtime NHL linesman calls it a career.
theathletic.com
Pierre Racicot and Stephane Provost began a ritual on May 11, 1999, when Provost’s first daughter, Ashley, was born.
Racicot showed up at the Weston, Fla., hospital with a cooler of beer and the best friends and on-ice partners shared lots of laughs, talked excitedly about the future and toasted fatherhood as they anxiously awaited Ashley’s arrival.
Six months later, when Racicot’s son was ready to arrive, Provost dropped by the hospital with a cooler of beer. The 32-year-old NHL linesmen yukked it up over a couple of cold ones as they waited for Harrison to be born.
Five years later, when Provost’s wife, Sandra, was in labor with the couple’s second daughter, Reily, the tradition continued.
“The nurses looked at us and go, ‘OK, you guys, what’s this all about? Who brings beer to a hospital?’” Racicot recalls with a hearty laugh. “But that was our ritual. The doctor would come in and go, ‘OK, it’s time.’ I’d say, ‘All right, I’ll be outside.’ And Steph would say, ‘I’ll see you in a few minutes.’
“My God,” Racicot says, “Ashley and Reily … they were Daddy’s girls.”
That’s why, from the moment Racicot received the horrifying phone call in the early-morning hours of April 22, 2005, he made it his life’s work to ensure that his best friend’s proudest achievements would always be taken care of.
“He’s our guardian angel,” Ashley says. “Pierre’s honestly like our second dad.”
It’s been 16 years since Provost died in a motorcycle accident just a mile from his home. Saturday night, before the Tampa Bay Lightning-Florida Panthers game at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Racicot will join fellow NHL linesman Jonny Murray and referees Kelly Sutherland and Frederick L’Ecuyer at the center-ice faceoff dot just after the national anthem to perform the same pregame ritual that officials have done before every NHL game since.
They’ll tap their left arms. They’ll tap the NHL crest over their hearts. They’ll squeeze their fists together.
And, together, they’ll say, “Steph.”
Alone with his thoughts and for the final time as an NHL official, Racicot will then skate away and touch the patch on his shoulder where his best friend’s No. 72 used to be, then point to the sky.
“It’s always been my way of saying, ‘OK, Steph. You’re still here with me,’” Racicot says. “I think of Steph every day. And I thank him every day for being who I am today because he made me a way better person. He knew how to laugh, how to have fun. He took a big bite out of life.”
Racicot’s last game fittingly comes inside an arena that’s 15 minutes from the front door of his house and where he used to work many Panthers home games alongside his best friend, the bubbly, laugh-out-loud funny, fellow French Canadian.
In Val-d’Or, Quebec, where Sandra, Ashley and Reily Provost moved three years after Stephane’s death, the TV will be tuned into Racicot’s final game.
“We have friends here that text us every time, ‘Oh my God, did you see who’s the (linesman) tonight?’” Ashley Provost says. “My grandpa (Phil) is obsessed with hockey and he will always watch the games that Pierre is in. We love telling everybody, ‘Hey, we know him. He’s family to us. … He’s putting my sister and me through university.’”
When Racicot steps on the ice Saturday night, it’ll be his 1,880th regular-season game. That ranks 12th all-time among NHL linesmen, in spite of his losing a bunch of games because of three NHL lockouts and two shortened seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has officiated 254 playoff games and is tied for 10th all-time with 10 Stanley Cup Finals appearances. He worked the 2004 and 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, the 2009 All-Star Game in his hometown of Montreal and two outdoor games, including the 2012 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and Flyers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Ask fellow officials about Racicot, and they’ll call him “the happiest man in hockey” and “the chairman of the fun committee.”
“He is so revved up for just going and doing the game,” says former referee Brad Watson, now an NHL officiating manager. “We got to work a lot of playoff games together. We worked multiple finals, and he’s the type of guy that wanted every series to go Game 7. He doesn’t want it to go 4. He wants the challenge and the excitement of working every game when it most matters. And he brought that into the dressing room and he brought that on the ice.
“He always has a big smile. It’s infectious. In fact, that was Steph to a T, too.”
That helps explain how Provost, a former firefighter, and Racicot, a former criminal psychologist in the Quebec prison system, became brothers in arms.
Back in the mid- to late-1990s and early 2000s, NHL linesmen often were paired together, so if the 6-foot-6 Racicot was assigned to a game, his buddy Provost would often be his sidekick.
They were the same age. They were both from Montreal. They were hired by the NHL a year apart, Racicot in 1993, Provost in 1994.
When the NHL was looking for officials to move to different parts of North America to make travel simpler, Racicot moved to South Florida in 1996. Provost followed a year later.
Racicot and Provost lived a mile apart. If they were assigned the same game, they’d travel together, whether it was car-pooling to Miami Arena or just around the corner from their Weston homes when the Panthers built their new barn in Sunrise, to Fort Lauderdale airport to catch a flight.
But it was during their 250-mile car rides across Alligator Alley on the way to Tampa where their friendship blossomed. They’d laugh and laugh and laugh.
“We would just talk about anything and everything,” Racicot says. “He taught me how to live life with a smile on my face. He was a big kid at heart.”
Provost became “Uncle Steph” to Harrison, now 21. Racicot and his wife, Kathy, who’s a fashion designer, became Reily’s godparents.
“Steph was such a fun human being, and an exceptional linesman,” Racicot says of his friend, who worked 695 games. “Right now, we hire a lot of ex-players that transition into officiating. Steph played major junior hockey. He played in the (Quebec League). He went to the Canadiens training camp, and we didn’t really have guys that played super high-level hockey back then. And he just loved everything about our job. He loved breaking up fights. We both did, and in the ’90s, there were a lot of them.”