Retiring Devorski gets cheers and boos

PHILADELPHIA>> Paul Devorski knew what was coming. Certainly he’s spent enough nights in Wells Fargo Center, looked up at that Big Screen enough times, saw enough sappy tributes to know what to expect.

He also has heard enough fans enough times to know what the accompanying music was going to be.

“I heard the ‘Ref You Suck!’ (chant) early in the first period, so I was probably expecting it,” Devorski the retiring referee said Sunday after making a 4-1 Flyers victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins his last game. “Fans here are pretty good.”

Somewhere over the previous 25-plus years, Devorski showed himself to be a pretty good referee, too. You can see that in the way he interacted with players, who may voice their emotions in other ways but also can show their respect simply in the on-ice interactions fans aren’t privy to.

Perhaps surprisingly, players and officials can build relationships through those face-to-face meetings. Devorski, 56, said one of the players he became “close to” was none other than Craig Berube.

“I’ve known Devo for a long time,” the Flyers coach said. “He’s been a great referee for a long time and to ref that long, he’s done a really good job. To ref this game here is pretty special.”

Devorski appreciated it, as Wells Fargo Center has almost been a home for him since he began his NHL officiating career. Devorski moved to the Harrisburg-Hershey area 25 years ago on the advice of former NHL referee Andy van Hellemond, who pointed out then that the shrinking Canadian dollar at that time might be a good reason for a good Canadian boy to move south.

“So I moved to the states and I went to Hershey, because you can drive to all the American League cities and all those NHL cities from there, and I’d get home in my bed that night,” Devorski said. “I’ve been there ever since.”

He cited a 2009 Stanley Cup Finals victory for the Penguins in Detroit as perhaps the biggest NHL game he refereed, and said another highlight had to be the Olympic gold medal game in Torino, Italy in which the Swedes beat the Finns.

“(Swede captain) Mats Sundin became my best friend after that,” Devorski said with a smile.

It went fast, as life tends to do. Devorski at 56 says he has trouble keeping up with a game that has mul- tiplied in speed since he began.

“You see the speed out there,” he said. “I got ran over twice the other night in Chicago, and I thought ... ‘It’s time to go.’ So...” So away he goes. The original plan was to walk away at midseason, but league officials boss Stephen Walkom asked him to stay on a little longer because of injuries short-shifting the league crew. So Devorski got to pick his going away date, figuring that since his ill father wasn’t able to attend games in their home area of Toronto, Philly was a perfect second choice.

Paul also picked his younger brother Greg to serve as a linesman in this final game. And he was gratified to see the game turned out to have “a playoff atmosphere,” since he’ll miss the real playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

All that remained to complete the day was the video tribute.

“They said it was coming and they were going to do it right at the start of the third (period),” he said. “I think the fans were kind of restless right then, so they said they were going to hold off until near the end. So it was good.”

Since the turn of the calendar to April, it’s almost like Brayden Schenn picked up on the rumors and started reacting to them.

Schenn, once a top-5 overall pick in the draft, was heading for another less-than satisfactory season, which painted him as one of the foremost trade-bait choices to start a Flyers rebuilding campaign around.

But Schenn has registered three goals and six points in his last three games, and attributes the pickup in his offense to a position switch. In filling in for the injured Wayne Simmonds, Schenn is playing right wing for the first time.

“I think I’ve gotten more chances on that side,” said Schenn, now with 17 goals and 45 points. “At the same time, it’s a coach’s decision ... but I’m enjoying it over there.

“It’s a little tougher in our end,” he said of playing the off wing, “but when you’re coming off that wing (offensively), it’s easier to cut to the middle and I guess I can see more of the ice. I’m able to make more plays and it’s just a little more comfortable for me.” NOTES >> Devorski on his introduction to social media: “I was really giving it to (John) Tortorella one game, saying ‘You’re a (bleepin’) ...’ and they catch it (on video),” he said, “and the next thing is it’s on (YouTube).” ... Flyers have an offday, then back Tuesday night with a game against the Islanders.