Last 'Rody' Trip

If they do their jobs well, you hardly notice them. When the game is over, they aren't recognized for how well they perform. They hit the locker room, shower, change and leave the arena.
They are NHL linesmen. Without them, every game would descend into chaos.

Vaughan Rody is one of those linesmen and Wednesday night at Climate Pledge Arena, he will call his last NHL game after 22 years.
Rody, 53, chose Seattle to be the setting for his last game because he's lived in the area for the past 30 years. He moved to an apartment in Federal Way from his hometown of Winnipeg at the age of 24 to pursue his dreams of working in the NHL. There was an opening with the Western Hockey League for a Seattle-based official and he jumped on it.
"You don't get opportunities unless you take chances and this chance came with a move to not only a new city, but a new country," said Rody (pronounced 'Roe-dee'). "You are chasing the dream. I knew it was going to be a grind. It was going to be a long, alone, hard road.
"I thought to myself, 'geez, if I'm going to have to do this, I better go submerse myself in another culture with an opportunity to make this successful.'"
An official in junior hockey is not the most lucrative job. But it put Rody on the path toward his NHL dream. He worked part-time over four seasons for the WHL, then six as a full-time official. To make ends meet he took a full-time job at Boeing.
That led to long nights where he might call a game across the state in Spokane or Kennewick, only to race home afterward in time to be up and ready to go for his 5 a.m. shift at Boeing.
"So many times, I can't even probably put a finger on how many times, I thought, 'Geez, you know, is this ever gonna happen?'" Rody said. "There were many nights you second-guessed yourself on if I made the right decision. There were many nights ... when you're in the car you got so much windshield time and you're by yourself. All you do is think about things like that."
The sacrifice and windshield time paid off. Rody has spent the last 22 years calling games in the NHL. He's worked a Winter Classic and when the Jets returned to his hometown of Winnipeg, he worked their home opener.
Rody was in Seattle Oct. 23 when the Kraken opened Climate Pledge Arena, working the game with Ryan Gibbons, who has local ties with his time playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds.
"I was like everybody else when the National Hockey League had talked previously about coming to Seattle," Rody said. "I couldn't wait for that opportunity to happen. Not only selfishly because I knew I would get some games here, but I am so proud of the NHL and I know how that operation works.
"It's the greatest league in the world, and, I was excited for my friends and my family and people in this area to get an opportunity to see what I've watched for 20-plus years. So, for me to do this game, and have an opportunity to wrap it up here in my second home, it really is tremendous."

It hasn't been smooth sailing in the NHL for Rody. In 2014 he suffered a back injury during a game that required surgery. A post-operation infection caused him to miss a year-and-a-half of hockey.
Like players, Rody had to rehab to return from injury. Linesmen are athletes who are just as tough as the players they officiate, often in the line of fire of shots and sometimes punches.
If a scrum or fight breaks out, they step in to calm emotions - or try their best to do so. That can lead to an errant punch to their jaws or bodies. It's all part of the job.
Wednesday night will be special for Rody. The Kraken were able to reserve him a suite so that his family can attend. He said "it's an act of kindness I will never forget." As the clock winds down, he'll have time to reflect on his NHL career and the people who helped him along the way.
First and foremost, will be his late father, Rody said was his biggest fan and critic.
"I believe the only reason I'm here is because of individuals like him," Rody said. "I've dreamed about this job since I was 14 years old. I was lucky enough and proud enough to get an opportunity to live my dream, which not many people do.
"I realized it's a privilege and an honor to be standing inside the glass. This is going to be my last skate around the ice. I'm ready for it. In fairness, I realized it was my time 22 years ago. It's not my time anymore. It's somebody else's time."
Rody won't have to worry about dodging punches or making correct off-side calls after Wednesday's Avalanche-Kraken game. He and his wife, Jodi, run an Amazon delivery franchise in Seattle. They manage more than 100 employees, which will keep him busy.
Hockey will remain a part of Rody's life. He'll continue his connection with the game and the local community by running his Pro Edge Skating school, helping local players improve arguably the most important skill in the game.
And he'll be watching. The hockey fan in Rody will live on but don't expect him to be critical of the officials or yell 'offside' from his couch or the stands.
"I've always been a fan of the game," Rody said. "I'm a fan of great players and I think I'm more of a fan of better human beings," he said. "There's a lot of guys in this National Hockey League I pull for because they're good people.
"I have 78 teammates [NHL linesmen and referees] that are the best people in the world. I will be pulling for them because I know how difficult this job is … it does take a special human being to be inside the glass blowing the whistle. It takes a lot of courage to do this job and they'll never hear from me in a negative way. Everything will be positive."