In ice hockey, an official is responsible for enforcing the rules and maintaining order. On-ice officials are present on the ice during the game, and traditionally wear a shirt with black and white vertical stripes. The National Hockey League (NHL) currently employs four on-ice officials in each game—two referees and two linespersons (also known as linesmen). [a] Referees are identified by their red or orange armbands. They are responsible for the general supervision of the game, assess penalties, and conduct face-offs at the beginning of each period and after a goal is scored. When play is stopped for another reason, the face-offs are conducted by the linesmen. The linesmen are primarily responsible for violations involving the centre line and blue lines, such as icing and offside infractions.
NHL officials wear identifying numbers on the back of their jerseys. From the 1977–78 season until the 1994–95 season, they wore name bars instead of numbers.
Year inducted | Name | Nationality |
---|---|---|
1958 | King Clancy [b] | ![]() |
1961 | Chaucer Elliott | ![]() |
1961 | Mickey Ion | ![]() |
1961 | Cooper Smeaton | ![]() |
1962 | Mike Rodden | ![]() |
1963 | Bobby Hewitson | ![]() |
1964 | Bill Chadwick | ![]() |
1967 | Red Storey | ![]() |
1973 | Frank Udvari | ![]() |
1981 | John Ashley | ![]() |
1987 | Matt Pavelich | ![]() |
1988 | George Hayes | ![]() |
1991 | Neil Armstrong | ![]() |
1993 | John D'Amico | ![]() |
1999 | Andy Van Hellemond | ![]() |
1999 | Scotty Morrison [c] | ![]() |
2008 | Ray Scapinello | ![]() |
2014 | Bill McCreary | ![]() |