For those fortunate enough to attend a NHL game live, you’ll find it becoming somewhat of a tradition to “boo” the referees and linesmen as they skate out onto the ice before the players. I use the term “boo” very loosely as fans often come up with alternate ways (usually a word between 4 and 10 letters long) of saluting the men that police the game.

I would be curious to see, however, how many of those fans that heckle the officials actually know what the true role of a referee and linesman are.

I was watching a hockey game with a friend one time; not an avid follower of the game, but a casual fan nonetheless. It just so happens that the two teams involved were rivals, and during the 3rd period of the game, a line brawl broke out between the two team’s 4th line players. What my friend couldn’t understand was why the one referee would not try and break up one of the fights taking place on the ice. “What is scared of getting knocked out?”

Not quite, friend.

It is from this example that I feel that the hockey fan should understand the role of the referees and linesmen on the ice. In doing so, perhaps you use your newfound knowledge for officiating and make your heckling politically correct.

Photo by: Rick Dikeman

Referees

1. Next time you’re watching a hockey game, notice the uniforms that the officials are wearing. Two of the officials will be sporting orange armbands. These are the referees in the officiating unit. There are 2 of them on the ice.
2. The referees are only responsible for face-offs that take place at center ice. Face-offs taking place elsewhere on the ice will be handled by a linesman.
3. The role of the referee on the ice is to oversee the game play. He is responsible for calling penalties and determining whether a goal is scored or not.
4. If a fight breaks out on the ice, it is not the job of the referee to break up the fight. His role during a fight is to assess the situation and administer penalties to the appropriate parties. If more than one fight breaks out on the ice, it is not uncommon to see a referee skating around the scuffles taking place. This means that he is assessing the situation on the ice to make sure that the calls get made accurately. Even if there are more fights taking place than linesmen, 9 times out of 10, the referee will continue to be an onlooker and will be queuing up the penalties in his head.

Photo by: AZAdam

Linesmen

1. The officials out on the ice that do not have an orange armband are linesmen. There are 2 of them on the ice.
2. The linesmen are responsible for monitoring the 2 blue lines, the “red line” and the 2 end lines. It is at these points in the ice where linesmen are responsible for calling icing and offsides. Also, linesmen are responsible for administering the face-offs everywhere on the ice except center ice.
3. A linesman cannot call a penalty himself. He, however, can converse with a referee as to whether or not a penalty should be called. A linesman will usually help a referee determine a “too many men on the ice” call, as well as if a penalty shot is necessary after an infraction.
4. A linesman is responsible for stepping in between two players when a fight breaks out. If there is more than one fight taking place on the ice, they have to do their best to take control of the situation as referees will not get involved in the fisticuffs unless the situation gets so far out of control that extra help would be needed to prevent a dangerous situation from unfolding.

For those looking for a visual, check out the mini line brawl between the Stars and Bruins. Fast forward for the 5:45 minute. There is a bit of a dirty hit by Sean Avery and then all hell breaks loose. Notice the referees positioning to the left and right of the scrum. Furthermore, notice who is in the middle of the pile trying to break up fights.

Tags: Hockey 101, hockey rules, linesmen, NHL, officiating, referees