How the Devils Won Yellow Sunday | 40 YEARS WITH STAN

Unprecedented.
Even that is an understatement to describe what has gone down in New Jersey Devils history as what became known as "Yellow Sunday."
For starters, let me point out that the tremulous events that shook the franchise's foundations -- but never broke them -- began innocently enough during the spring of 1988.
Having giddily wiped out the first-place Islanders in the opening playoff round -- the Devils' first-ever -- coach Jim Schoenfeld's sextet then disposed of favored Washington in the next tournament.
"Now we were up against a tough Bruins team," remembered large,.ever-smiling forward David Maley. "Granted, we were underdogs again, but we also gained confidence with our two series wins."
That confidence extended to Beantown where New Jersey split the opening two third-round series at Boston Garden. Playing the next two games before an SRO crowd in East Rutherford loomed as a tasty course on the hometown menu.
But the Bruins would prove more formidable than either of the Devils' previous two foes. Although the first period in Game Three concluded without a goal, Schoenfeld was concerned.

"For some reason," Jim said, "we didn't seem to have the juice." No less an issue was the fact that referee Don Koharski dished out a four-minute -- double-minor -- penalty to New Jersey's Pat Verbeek at 19:30 of the first period. It would leave the home club shorthanded into the second frame.
Justifiably, Schony was furious over the Verbeek penalty. Granted that Pat had a skirmish with Boston's rough Keith Crowder but logic dictated that each would get four minutes.
Another Devils' penalty -- this time to Kirk Muller -- turned Jim's anger into a five-alarm fury. And even that worsened as Boston exploited the situation and leaped ahead by 3-0; and then by 5-1 at the end of the middle period.
Tossing gasoline on the flames, Koharski added a bench penalty to New Jersey's woes near the end of the third period. If that wasn't enough -- actually it was more than enough -- he tagged Ken Daneyko with a gratuitous holding infraction with 23 seconds left in the game and the Visitors ahead, 6-1.
Any objective viewer would admit that the overall, overwhelming anger vented on both sides should have simmered down at the final buzzer. The referee should have described an orderly retreat to his quarters. Out of sight would make the zebra out of mind.
Alas, that's not the scenario that unfolded; not even close. If revolutionary decorum was to take place, the two angry men -- Schoenfeld and Koharski -- would have to be physically kept apart. Therefore the best-case scenario called for the referee to stay on the ice as far away from the Devils coach as possible.
But this never happened. As Schoenfeld and his aide, Doug McKay, prepared to head for the dressing room, Koharski -- along with linesmen Ray Scapinello and Gord Broseker -- skated to the gate where Schoenfeld happened to be. An intense argument percolated as the pair approached the steps leading to the dressing room corridor.
Koharski lost his balance and slipped off the runway and against a door frame that jutted into the corridor. The referee hit the frame and then the wall but stayed on his feet by catching a corner of the framework with his left hand. The referee seemed to think that the coach had something to do with his mishap.
Evidence later would prove that that was not the case; not at all.
With Schoenfeld close by, Koharski bellowed, "Oh, you're gone now! You're gone! You won't coach another..." On the short hop, Schony fired right back:
"You fell and you know it. You know you fell and I didn't touch you."
Koharski wouldn't stop. "You're gone. You're gone. And I hope it's on tape."
Then Schony returned serve once more: "Good, 'cause you fell, you fat pig. Have another doughnut!"
The belligerents were separated but not quieted. As Koharski was escorted to the on-ice officials' room, he continued his rant while Jim repeated his "Have another donut" mantra. And, after a reasonable pause to calm down, Schoenfeld convened the media.
Schoenfeld: "Yes, I waited for him after the game. I had some things to say to him about his officiating. I disagreed with a lot of it. He didn't want to hear me. He said I pushed him. He told me, 'You'll never coach again.' He bumped me....my hands were at my side."
On the other hand, Koharski refused to face the press. He did phone NHL Executive Vice President Brian O'Neill. The league's boss, President John Ziegler, was not available and would not be for a couple of mysterious days.
Now the plot began to thicken. In a strange reaction to the fiery encounter, O'Neill had not looked at a tape of the episode although Devils boss Lou Lamoriello had offered it to the NHL official for further proof of Schoenfeld's innocence.,
Equally curious -- apart from Ziegler's disappearance -- was the fact that O'Neill continued to refuse to convene a meeting of the belligerents. In other words, neither Schony nor Koho could state their positions before the acting league head. Meanwhile, Game Four -- scheduled for East Rutherford -- loomed on Sunday, May 8th which just happened to be Mother's Day.
Finally, on the day of Game Four, O'Neill -- still no word from Ziegler -- announced that Schoenfeld was guilty of verbal abuse of the referee and would be suspended (at least for one game.)
Furious over O'Neil's refusal to hold a hearing and the total absence of President Ziegler, the Devils high command -- composed of owner Dr. John McMullen, Lou Lamoriello and legal counsel -- decided to fight Schony's suspension in the courts.
The game plan consisted of a temporary restraining order to overturn the coach's ban. The case was heard on Sunday -- also game day -- by Bergen County Superior Court Justice James F. Madden at his home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. In the meantime, at 6 p.m., players from both teams had come to the arena to prepare for Game Four.
Uncertain about the outcome of the officiating dispute, the NHL's series supervisor, John McCauley, contacted The Meadowlands off-ice officials. He quietly warned them that they might have to select a referee and two linesmen to handle the game. As it happened, referee Dave Newell and his linesmen were prepared to go on strike if Schoenfeld was allowed to coach the game.
Originally, the contest was to begin at 7:45 p.m. but at 7:20 p.m. Judge Madden ruled in favor of the Devils. When Newell and his linesmen learned of the decision, their officials' association lawyer Jim Beatty advised them not to take the ice. After much feuding and fussing, the NHL's Chairman of the Board of Governors Bill Wirtz ruled that the game must go on with substitute officials.
Those chosen were NHL off-ice officials Paul McInnis, 52, Vin Godleski, 51, and Jim Sullivan, 50, and all in good physical shape. Each had long, respective careers as referees and linesmen at the collegiate and scholastic levels. McInnis was chosen to be the referee while the others would work the lines.
"They found skates for us," said Sullivan, "but there were no striped "zebra" shirts. Someone suggested we wear the yellow sweaters players use in practices and that's what we put on for the first period."
Officials in yellow uniforms were such an unusual sight that the capacity crowd didn't know what to make of it and neither did the media who proceeded to label the affair "Yellow Sunday."
According to one reporter's review, the amateur trio "did an extraordinary job. They were impartial, sharp and rarely trailed the play." And by the end of the first period, someone had found them a set of three, fresh, striped outfits.
In historian Matthew Blittner's book, Unforgettable Devils, Sullivan told what it was like for him and his colleagues. "Vinny had his own equipment in his car but Paul and I didn't have anything with us.
"They gave us light shin guards but we had nothing for our thighs or anything like that so we had to borrow skates. Let me tell you, you can't really skate in borrowed skates. It looked like I could hardly skate. Still, I felt as if I did all right."
The Devils did all right as well. First period goals by Claude Loiselle and David Maley staked New Jersey to a 2-0 lead, thereby putting the crowd into a delightful frenzy.
Tempers flared in the middle period and the sub-officials had their hands full. "The fights were a bit of a problem," Sullivan allowed. "But the thing was that we didn't want to determine the outcome of the game."
Cam Neely got one back for Boston in the second period but defenseman Tom Kurvers gave Schony's gang a cushion and the game ended -- very raucously, I might add -- with a 3-1 victory for the home club, tying the series at two apiece.
As far as the Devils were concerned, justice triumphed on all levels; helped a great deal by goalie Sean Burke's 32 saves out of 33 shots. The long delays before the judge's decision and the time it took to get substitute officials ready for the tilt didn't affect the Devils.
Burke: "The time when we were sitting and waiting helped us focus on what we had to do. We wanted to see Jim behind the bench, and it gave him a chance to talk about it. We used the delay to our advantage."
People who were there for Yellow Sunday -- The Maven being one of them -- never will forget the cavalcade of zany episodes that included the one-shot officials who emerged from the fracas with honor and at least one good punch line:
"For the first two periods," laughed linesman Jim Sullivan, "I had to use a whistle that came out of a box of Cracker Jacks!"