Whitie Bensen was a pioneer in the hockey community. He helped found and served on the inaugural board of the West Haven Youth Hockey Association in 1969 (with my grandfather Ed McKeon). Just 4 years before that in 1965, he opened the iconic Whitie Bensen Athletic Equipment store starting in the basement of his West Haven home and the trunk of his car where he sold hockey sticks and other equipment. He then moved to multiple different locations throughout West Haven before settling on the Saw Mill Rd location. He also took his equipment on the road to different colleges and prep schools. His legacy now lives on with his son Kyle Bensen as he runs the operations in the newly combined Bensen Ferguson store in Orange. The name Whitie Bensen is known throughout the State of CT in both the hockey and lacrosse worlds and the impact he left on the game both at the local and regional level between his professional life and his playing and coaching life is something that will never be forgotten even after his death.
As a resident of Wethersfield, Lyman started officiating when the national governing body for ice hockey was AHAUS. He was one of the founding members of the USA Hockey officiating organization in CT and expanded his role to serve as the New England District Referee-in-Chief for 25 years. Through his guidance and mentorship, Lyman helped grow the officiating base at the grass roots level while catapulting officials to some of the highest levels of hockey in the world, including the NHL, the AHL, the Olympics, and IIHF world championships. In 2010, Lyman received USA Hockey’s highest honor for officials – the Chet Stewart Award. Lyman retired and moved to South Carolina with his wife Doris. Lyman passed away on Sept 14, 2015.
Here is info from directly from Brian.
I know he started refereeing back when USA Hockey was AHAUS. He did that for years and then began instructing new refs and would run clinics to get more people involved in refereeing. When we watched NHL games dad liked to point out the refs that he taught and whether they were any good or not. If the refs were from the east coast he was probably one of their instructors. If not he was their instructors instructor. For many years I don't think there were any refs from New England that my dad wasn't involved in their development as refs. I believe he was also involved in developing the rules and rule changes over the years. He was also one of the refs that the Whaler old timers would request for most of the games. He was friends with Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty for many years.
I asked him a few times why he didn't ref NHL games. He said he enjoyed helping people become better referees and that he also wanted to be home with his family and working with USA Hockey let him do both.
Here is a posting from Harvey Cohen, former CT Referee-in-Chief on Lyman’s obituary page
It seems like just yesterday we were neighbors in Wethersfield, working hard at making the hockey officials of Connecticut the best in the country. Lyman was instrumental in all of our growth. I'll never forget working a high school game with Lyman and then the two of us being drafted to work the following game - a college club game in Norwich - because no other referees were there! All of our collaborations inside USA Hockey were built on friendship and caring and I will never forget about how much he meant to me.
From Dave Labuda, the current USA Hockey National Referee-in-Chief
Lyman was generous man with his time and his knowledge. He was passionate about hockey officiating and contributed for many years toward developing officials.
From Jim Dewhirst, the USA Hockey Southeast District Referee-in-Chief
Lyman was a great friend to the USA Hockey family and me. He was one of the first to reach out to me as a new RIC and always provided great counsel and friendship. I loved having him in the Southeastern District for the last several years as he was a great teacher to the younger officials. He shall be missed but never forgotten.
From Brent Colby, an active official in the AHL from here in CT
I owe a lot to Lyman for helping me be successful in my officiating career. He helped me achieve my goal of officiating in the AHL with the guidance and knowledge of his multiple years of dedicated Volunteering to USA hockey. Thank you Lyman for all your help, when it was early in my career.
Coach Maxey has helped define high school hockey in the state of Connecticut. Coach Maxey has an extensive hockey background. He was the Team Captain of the 1988 Western New England College team and earned the distinction of “Outstanding Defensive Performer” that same year. Coach Maxey served as Head Coach for the Trumbull High School Varsity team since 1999, calling the Rinks at Shelton home since 2004. He is a two-time FCIAC “Coach of the Year” and two-time CT Post “Coach of the Year.” Under Coach Maxey’s leadership, Trumbull High School won the CIAC Division 2 State Championship in 2012 as well as the FCIAC Championship that same year. Coach Maxey had many great accomplishments during his years at Trumbull High School. For 26 years he consistently turned adolescents into adults through the sport of hockey. He has impacted the lives of so many with his dedication to coaching and his ability to connect life skills with the sport he loves. Coach Maxey is a “Hockey Guy” in every sense of the word. Anyone that has been luck enough to cross paths with him would echo this sentiment.
One of the Founders of Simsbury Youth Hockey where he coached for over 20 years. His passion and love of the game continues on with his six sons who have, or are coaching at Simsbury youth hockey, Simsbury High School, Northwest Catholic High School , Conrad High School, and others. Sixteen of his grandkids played hockey ensuring the continuation of his legacy.
Bill was a man of service. He served his country as a member of the US Army Air Corp, served his community as selectman and first mayor of the town of Newington, and served the hockey community as one of the founding members of the Northern CT Hockey Referees Association (now IHONC). NCHRA was a model, both locally and nationally, in terms of what a local officiating organization should and could be. Bill also served as president of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association. Bill was passionate about helping officials improve, both locally and nationally. He continued to skate and mentor new officials into his 70s. For his efforts, Bill received USA Hockey’s highest honor for officials, the Chet Stewart Award, in 2004. Bill passed away on March 3, 2016.
Excerpts from Harvey Cohen
Bill always had a warm, easy-going and quiet personality off the ice, yet he was extremely confident in his skills without being arrogant on the ice. He was near the end of his on-ice career as I got started, so I did not have a large number of experiences with him in my early, formative years. But in those days when hockey was a lot smaller in footprint even after the Miracle of the 1980 Olympic team, getting assignments to officiate was competitive because there were more referees than teams/leagues in our northern area of Connecticut. Newbies like us were lucky to get two games to officiate in any given week! We know that has changed drastically, but then it was learning all you could from mentors like Bill who took the time to cultivate young officials and then helped evaluate each of us. He directly helped me and a great many peers in officiating all around Connecticut.
Paul's Referee Story:
I took an unlikely path to a long career as a hockey referee. I grew up in New Britain CT in the 1950’s when there were very few indoor rinks and no organized youth hockey in the area. I had skates, a hockey stick and enjoyed pond skating. Growing older my motivation for going to the pond was more about hanging out with girls than pushing pucks. I think that I outgrew my last pair of skates at age 15.
In 1981 my 7 yr old son, Kevin, brought home a flyer from his Tolland school regarding a six week “learn to skate” program at the nearby Bolton Ice Palace. It seemed like a good idea. We bought him used skates and a helmet and he seemed to enjoy the experience. That summer a family friend convinced us to sign Kevin up for Eastern Connecticut Hockey Organization (ECHO)’s Mite program at the Bolton rink. Kevin could barely skate but our friend said “I’m VP for Mites and Instructional and Kevin will get plenty of ice time.” Little did we know back then that hockey would impact our lives in many ways for years to come. The 1980’s was a time of growing interest in hockey after the “Miracle “ at Lake Placid and the arrival of the Whalers in Hartford. Over the next 6-7 years at ECHO I moved from parent to assistant coach, head coach, board member/scheduler, CHC representative and finally a referee. ECHO did not hire referees for Mite games and eventually the Board decided that the volunteer refs should be certified.
In 1986 I attended a seminar at the Bolton Rink conducted by CT RIC Walter Mather and Harvey Cohen. I am guessing that I worked my first game as a certified official at age 41. Joining the Northern CT/IHONC referee group a couple years later opened my eyes to a different refereeing world. What do I remember about those early years? Our membership included the CT RIC, New England District RIC and officials working high school, NCAA and AHL games. If you were a new official you had to attend monthly meetings. You mailed in your availability a couple months in advance and received a schedule by mail. If you couldn’t do a game, you had to find a sub. Training was important then and now at every meeting. I very much benefited from the training, working with different officials and traveling to the rinks and programs we serve. I enjoyed working Christmas tournaments, especially Simsbury, state tournament games and Wolfpack pre-games at the Civic Center. Perhaps there was a time when “three baggers” and higher level games were preferred. That changed over time as did the youth hockey landscape. IHONC was a leader locally and nationally in mentoring new officials and it was satisfying to be involved in program. I’ve worked lower level games with newer officials which helps reduce attrition.
When I reflect on my hockey journey I recall the expression “Hockey is a small world.” In 1985 I was Ron Hainsey’s first hockey coach at ECHO. He played in the NHL for 19 years and won the Stanley Cup as a Pittsburgh Penguin. In 1990 I was coaching the ECHO Squirt A team in a game against Avon Youth Hockey at the Avon Old Farms Rink. We took 5-0 drubbing and the kids were kind of down and out in the locker room. The door opened and Ron Francis walks in. I saw tears turn to joy. He was great with the kids. A while back long time NHL linesman Kevin Collins spoke at our IHONC end of the year banquet. His passionate plea for excellence and support of new officials appears annually on the USA Hockey training video. I have five grandchildren who are/were hockey players. I was always hoping that maybe one of them might want to be a referee. Grandkid#4 Teddy Bogue(11) became certified and I stepped on the ice with him for his first game at Wonderland of Ice on January 21, 2024. No doubt this was a highlight of my career.