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In ice hockey, an official is a person who has some responsibility in enforcing the rules or maintaining the order of the game. There are two categories of officials, on-ice officials, who are the referees and linesmen that enforce the rules during game play, and off-ice officials, who have an administrative role rather than an enforcement role.

Contents 1 On-ice officials 1.1 Referees 1.2 Linesmen 1.2.1 Assistant referees 1.3 On-ice officiating systems 2 Off-ice officials 2.1 Goal judge 2.2 Video goal judge 2.3 Official scorer 2.4 Penalty timekeeper 2.5 Game timekeeper 2.6 Statistician 3 Officials value in ice hockey culture 3.1 Russia 4 List of current NHL on-ice officials 4.1 Referees 4.2 Linesmen 4.3 Recently deceased NHL officials 4.4 Notable retired NHL officials 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] On-ice officials

As the name implies, on-ice officials do their job on the hockey rink. They are traditionally clad in a black hockey helmet, black trousers, and a black-and-white striped shirt. Thus, on-ice officials are often called zebras. They wear standard hockey skates and carry a fingerwhistle, which they use to stop play. They communicate with players, coaches, off-ice officials, and spectators both verbally and via hand signals. For many years (and currently in most minor and amateur leagues), officials had their last names on the back of their jerseys for identification, normally in a single row across the shoulders (or, in the case of Andy Van Hellemond, two rows with the top being the "Van"). Starting in 1996, however, NHL officials wear numbers on their shirts.

[edit] Referees

A referee is responsible for the general supervision of the game. He can be identified by his red or orange armbands. His judgment of goals is final. He is the only official with the authority to assess penalties for violations of the rules.

[edit] Linesmen

Linesmen are primarily responsible for watching for violations involving the red line and the blue line. Such infractions include icing and offsides infractions. Linesmen also conduct faceoffs. They are also expected to break-up fisticuffs and other altercations that occur during the game. Some leagues allow linesmen to call penalties (such as too many men), while others only allow them to report the infraction to the referee.

[edit] Assistant referees

In some leagues, such as the NCAA, the linesmen are given the title of assistant referee. When given this title, they are given more responsibility to call penalties that the referee may not see.

If an assistant referee sees an infraction, he may call it only after informing the Referee of his intent. Most often, the penalty in question is too many men on the ice; as assistant referees are responsible for watching on-the-fly player substitutions.

[edit] On-ice officiating systems

• The three-official system uses one referee and two linesman. This is the most common officiating system.
• The four-official system adds a second referee for a total of two referees and two linesman. This system is used in the NHL and other high-levels.
• In the two-official system, each official acts as both referee and linesman — each has the responsibility to call both penalties and blue and red line violations. In this system, neither official wears red or orange armbands. This is used at lower levels of youth hockey and in most adult recreational leagues.
• In the 2-1 system, there are two referees and one linesman. There are a variety of ways to divide the responsibilities between the referees and linesman. Typically, the back referee is responsible to make the initial call at the blue line when the puck first enters the zone, and after that the linesman takes over.
• The 1-1 system (sometimes called Texas two-man) uses one referee and one linesman. Often, this is an informal system used when one of the officials does not show up for a game scheduled to use the three-official system. The referee in this system must also make the occasional line call.

[edit] Off-ice officials

Off-ice officials, with the exception of the video goal judge in professional leagues, do not have any direct impact on the outcome of the game. They serve primarily administrative and advisory roles.

[edit] Goal judge

The goal judge determines whether a player has scored a goal by watching to see if the puck has crossed the goal line completely. One goal judge is positioned outside the rink directly behind each goal net. For arenas so equipped, the goal judge turns on a red light behind the goal to alert everyone that a goal has just been scored. The Goal Judge does not sound the horn you hear when a goal is scored; that is set off by the sound techs in the arena. The goal judge acts only in an advisory role; the referee has the sole authority to award goals and can override the opinion of the goal judge.

[edit] Video goal judge

The video goal judge reviews replays of disputed goals. As the referee does not have access to television monitors, the video goal judge's decision in disputed goals is taken as final. In the NHL, goals may only be reviewed in the following situations: puck crossing the goal line completely and before time expired, puck in the net prior to goal frame being dislodged, puck being directed into the net by hand or foot, puck deflected into the net off an official, and puck deflected into the goal by the high stick by an attacking player.

[edit] Official scorer

The official scorer keeps the official record of the game. He is responsible for obtaining a list of eligible players from both teams prior to the start of the game. He awards points for goals and assists, and his decision in this regard is final. The official scorer typically sits in an elevated position away from the edge of the rink.

[edit] Penalty timekeeper

The penalty timekeeper records the penalties imposed by the referee. He is responsible for ensuring that the correct penalty times are posted on the score clock.

[edit] Game timekeeper

The game timekeeper is responsible for stopping and starting the game clock.

[edit] Statistician

The statistician records all required data concerning individual and team performances.

[edit] Officials value in ice hockey culture

Like other "playing" sports, hockey game-play is based on referee decisions, therefore inevitable misunderstandings could seriously influence the whole process. And even if the mistake was committed purposely, there is no way that game results could be declared void because of it (the most probable outcome would be suspension or monetary penalty against the violating referee). Therefore, referees' influence in modern hockey culture is obvious.

Unfortunately, most fans and players tend to blame referees for their team failures instead of looking for more relevant explanations. A recent example of such behavior occurred during the IIHF 2006 World Championship Latvia - Canada game (see the official press release). The U.S. official, Rick Looker, enforced the rules to rulebook standards, calling 16 minor penalties against Latvia, of which 9 were converted into powerplay goals. However, the fans assumed this was the result of prejudice in favor of North-American teams and stopped the game twice by throwing various objects (including a boot) on the ice.

[edit] Russia

Unlike hockey fans in other parts of the world, Russians have their own special name for on-ice officials -- matras (Russian: матра́c), which is Russian for mattress. In the Soviet era, mattresses were generally made with black-and-white stripes running down their length, reminiscent of the striped shirt of an official. Russian fans are so biased against the referees, that even the most belligerent fans of opposing teams will support their counterparts in the face of questionable calls, regardless of whose team benefits.

Soviet hockey history with Moscow teams domination started several myths, one of which is referees being corrupt (there are still rumours of Soviet leaders, like Stalin or Brezhnev, using phone calls to determine which team would win the game). While this fact is quite questionable, several standard practices serve only to help spreading rumours. For example, League regulations state that referee's salary is paid by game hosting team. Another fact, that the largest punishment for referee so far was a 3-month suspension with a questionable fine. Therefore, corruption is the main theme of Russian fans' perfomance. Most interesting cases include fan taking up 10 roubles note(note with lowest monetary value, equal to approx. 40 U.S. cents) from his wallet and addressing the referee with "A penalty, please" shout. When penalty is finally called (which takes no more than 5 minutes of normal gameplay), the vallet is thrown on ice, this time with "Thank you!" comment.

Returning to officials addressing, there are several popular chants to be heard on stands.

• Mat-ras – tri-dva-ras! (lit. "Mattress - three-two-one!") - "tri-dva-ras" is similar phonetically to pidorás, a derogatory term for passive homosexuals. Since swearing in public places is a civil offence in Russia, a workaround was found to avoid being captured by police.
• Sud'-ya – ka-zyol! (lit. "Referee(judge) is a goat!") - kazyol is a popular Russian offensive word for 'bad' people name-calling.
• Sud'-ya – El-ton John! (lit. "Referee(judge) is Elton John!") - once again, a subtle hint on referee sexual preferences.
• Po-lo-sa-tiy – pro-vo-ca-tor, hey-hey! (lit. "Striped is an instigator, hey-hey!") - implies that ref is leading a game into inevitable fight.

These pearls of Russian fan culture are characteristic not just for hooligans. Even serious businessmen in VIP lounges could be seen chanting some of these in extreme moments. Good example is Metallurg Magnitogorsk vs. Dynamo Moscow game, which was broadcasted live by federal sports channel, RTR Sport. During overtime period, Dynamo player managed to get a breakaway and shot the puck right into goalkeeper's face. The latter fell, and a second shot of former resulted to goal. The problem is that IIHF rules state that game stould be stopped immediately as goalkeeper gets hit with the puck in his face, so Metallurg officials appealed to the referee. After video review, the appeal was denied, resulting in huge "Matras - tri-dva-ras!" chanting by each fan. Commentators even stopped their play-by-play, with a comment - "It seems, they're quite right". Cameras then showed VIP lounge with people chanting in similar manner.

Unfortunately, this examples show that ice hockey officials in Russia are treated quite bad by fans. New insults are being invented, like referees being called penguins. Which is most unfortunate, the league doesn't do anything to prevent this. Even worse, new league regulations (like proposal to remove referee's name from their jersey in favor of ads) just cause more ideas for fans to appear for exploiting.

[edit] List of current NHL on-ice officials

[edit] Referees

[edit] Linesmen

[edit] Recently deceased NHL officials

• Stephane Provost, NHL Linesman (1967-2005)

[edit] Notable retired NHL officials

• Bob Best
• Bill Chadwick
• Kevin Collins
• John D'Amico
• Terry Gregson
• Bruce Hood
• Randy Mitton
• Ray Scapinello
• Cooper Smeaton
• Paul Stewart
• Red Storey
• Stephen Walkom
• Andy Van Hellemond

[edit] See also

Director of Officiating (NHL)

[edit] External links

• HockeyOfficials.com
• HockeyRefs.com
• National Association of Sports Officials
• NHL Officials Association

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• Hockey Canada Officiating Program
• USA Hockey Officiating Program
• Ice Hockey Australia Officiating Program
• Norwegian Ice Hockey Officials Club
• Swiss Hockey Officials
• Belgian Referee Commission
• Danish Ice Hockey Officials Club
• French Referee Commission
• German Hockey Officiating
• Off-Ice Officials at Michigan State Universityde:Offizieller (Eishockey)