It is the story of a kid from Canada born in the mid-1960s who grew up knowing nothing of Western Pennsylvania before moving to the area, falling in love with it and making it his home.

A tale of a man who achieved his dream of participating in a Stanley Cup final, reaching the pinnacle of his sport before stepping away from the rink to take on an administrative role, becoming one of the National Hockey League's most influential figures -- only to return to the ice a few years later and proving he never missed a beat.

Mario Lemieux? All of that fits him. But it can be argued that Moon Township resident Stephen Walkom has had even more of a tangible impact on how the game of hockey is played in today's NHL.

Walkom, a longtime NHL referee, was asked by the league and its commissioner, Gary Bettman, to take a job as NHL senior vice president and director of officiating in 2005.

The role, at the time, was a vitally important one because the league was emerging from a devastating lockout that had wiped out a season and was returning with promises that the on-ice product would be dramatically more entertaining.

After about a decade of a gradual shift of emphasis to defense, clutching-and-grabbing was running rampant, choking speed, offense, scoring and the talents of the league's best players from the sport. Walkom was asked to be the point man in an effort to have the league's officials enforce rules that brought skating and skill back into the game.

"There's a huge difference in how the game is played now compared to 2004," Walkom said earlier this week from his home in the West Hills.

"A regular season game after the lockout is as fast or faster than a playoff game was prior to the lockout, and that's because there's a ton of conformance now to the standard [of how a game is supposed to be called], and the players, officials and league understand the standard and believe in the standard."

Walkom grew up in North Bay, Ontario, a town of roughly 50,000 about a four-hour drive north of Toronto.

He was a referee in the American Hockey League in the 1980s before being hired by the NHL in 1990.

"Basically, we [as officials] can live anywhere we want, as long as the league approves it," Walkom said. "My wife, Annie, is from Hamilton, which is Canada's Steel City, and I had been to Hershey quite a bit [while working in the AHL] and always liked the people of Pennsylvania.

"I said to my wife, 'Pittsburgh seems like a great city.' I thought Toronto was too busy, and we could have moved to Detroit or St. Louis or wherever, but we picked Pittsburgh and we just loved it. We'd only been there once, but once we moved here, we called it home."

Walkom had never been to an NHL game growing up. Like most Canadians, he was into hockey, but never had a desire to get into officiating.

"No chance," he said with a laugh. "I wanted to be Bobby Orr. I wanted to be No. 4, Bobby Orr, that's all I'd think about everyday after school. I thought referees, they were geeks. I hated referees. Still to this day, when I go see my kids play, I do. I don't know why.

"I just kind of fell into officiating. I didn't want to be a referee [initially], but at the rink you got paid $1.50 and time-keeping was only 75 cents. And practice was an hour later [in the morning]."

Once Walkom became an official, he became a good one. During the 14 years of his initial on-ice NHL career, he worked more than 600 regular-season games, almost 100 Stanley Cup playoff contests and two finals.

Officials are chosen for the final on the basis of a merit-based system, and Walkom worked the league's final championship series before the lockout in 2004, after which he was hired to work in the league office.

"It was an honor to be asked to do that," Walkom said. "But what's funny is that it's something that's viewed by your peers as a step down. I know in most companies, you get a VP job and you become the boss, it's a step up.

"But I appreciate [NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations] Colin Campbell and [Bettman] keeping their word. I told them when I took the job that I hoped to have the option of coming back [to the ice as a referee], and they kept their word.

"I really think I learned to appreciate the game once I learned how much I missed it. I was lucky enough to be young enough to get another chance."

During his time in charge of the officials, Walkom stressed a togetherness among the referees and linesmen. He often will refer to "being part of this team" any time he speaks of the fraternity of officials in the league.

By all accounts, Walkom achieved his goals and the league's mandate for him while in the director of officiating position. Scoring is up, and most objective observers have noticed a significant change in the style of play. Measured by attendance and television ratings, league-wide popularity has significantly been on the rise.

And Walkom? He showed that he didn't lose his proficiency after five years away from his old job. In his first season back as an on-ice official, Walkom was selected to work the Stanley Cup final.

"Hockey is a game with a tremendous amount of respect shared out there," Walkom said. "A coach will tell you to [screw] off, and then in the hallway after the game he'll say hello and ask you how your family is.

"It's a vicious game, but it's also a ballet out there, and as much as the players want to kill each other, they shake each other's hands afterwards. Being an official, you have to deal with players and coaches and fans getting mad at you in the heat of the moment, but you can't get wrapped up in it. Everybody respects one another, and that's what makes it so gratifying to be a part of."

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