1992-93 NHL Referee Andy Van Hellemond Jersey (retrospective look at referee jersey designs)

Third String Goalie ^ | December 29, 2010

[NYer]

Prior to wearing the familiar black and white striped jerseys, NHL referees wore cream colored sweaters, as well as neckties, which made for a quite dapper look. The cream sweaters lasted into the early 1950's.

1940's NHL referee's sweater

Hockey Hall of Famer and first American referee Bill Chadwick wearing a cream colored referees sweater, complete with necktie

Following the cream colored sweaters, in order to differentiate themselves from the home player's white sweaters, NHL referees changed in March of 1953 to a bright orange style with a half zip front, which sadly meant neckties were no longer worn.

Hall of Fame referee Red Storey tries to maintain order between Gordie Howe and Ted Kennedy in the early 1950's

An orange referee's sweater from the 2005 film "The Rocket: The Legend of Maurice Richard"

Finally on this date in 1955, NHL on-ice officials wore brand new vertically striped black and white sweaters for the first time ever during a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, which was won by Montreal 5-2.

1950's NHL referee's sweater

At some point the referees began wearing orange arm bands to differentiate themselves from the linesmen, and today's NHL sweaters have remained essentially unchanged since then.

1960's NHL referee's sweater, now displaying orange armbands

While the NHL referees' sweaters had now reached what would essentially be their final look, the World Hockey Association, which arrived on the scene in 1972, did so with a splash, outfitting their officials in bold, if not gaudy, red and white striped sweaters, which featured not only the officials number on the back, but their name as well.

1970's WHA referee's sweater

Sometime around 1977, NHL referees began to wear their names on their backs instead of the traditional numbers.

1980's NHL referee's sweater with the referee's name on the back rather than the traditional numbers

The use of names on the back lasted until a return to the use of numbers once again for the 1994-95 season. NHL rules stipulate that referees have to wear numbers between 2 and 49, while linsemen can choose numbers from 50 to 98, with #1 and #99 not being permitted.

2000's NHL referee's sweater

There has been some tinkering of the referee's sweaters as of late, with black undersides to the sleeves, as well as an ill-fated attempt to change the orange armbands to silver for the 2007-08 season in an attempt to tie in with the new silver and black colors of the new NHL shield. With the silver armbands proving essentially invisible, this idea thankfully died a quick and quiet death.

See if you can spot the silver referee's arm stripes

The latest tweak to the sweaters arrived at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, when new fabrics and additional black trim were added to the sweaters, as well as extending the orange arm bands down the length of the bottom of the arms, which are visible when the referee's arm is fully raised. These sweaters were adopted full time and have been in use starting with the 2009-10 season.

2009 NHL referee's sweater

At times officials have worn patches on their jerseys, such as the league-wide patches for the Stanley Cup Centennial, as is the case with today's featured jersey. There have also been instances of referees wearing memorial patches as well. In the 1989-90 season, officials wore the initials "J. McC." on their sweaters to memorialize John McCauley, the director of NHL officiating who passed away in June 1989. In 2005-06 NHL officials wore a #72 patch in memory of linseman Stephane Provost who passed away in May 2005 due to a motorcycle accident.

Another notable referee's jersey was worn during the 2000 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto, when the teams wore futuristic jerseys inspired by the millennium, which carried over to the referee's jerseys. They featured a vertical orange stripe down the left side of the jersey, both front and back, with the 2000 All-Star Game patch centered over the stripe on the right chest.

The cream colored sweaters were revived during the 1991-92 NHL season whenever two of the Original 6 teams played against each other while wearing their Turn Back the Clock jerseys, as well as that season's NHL All-Star Game, when both teams wore throwback jerseys in recognition of the NHL's 75th anniversary.

1991-92 NHL throwback referee sweaters

The cream throwback sweaters were also put back into service during the first NHL outdoor event, 2003's Heritage Classic when the Montreal Canadiens legends took on a team of Edmonton Oilers legends, with both teams wearing throwback jerseys and the officials once more got into the spirit of the event with turn back the clock sweaters of their own.

2003 Heritage Classic referee Andy Van Hellemond

The next outing for the cream colored throwbacks was an appearance at the 2004 NHL All-Star Game in St. Paul, Minnesota when the referee's joined in with the players throwback jersey look, only this time with the All-Star Game patch on the upper right chest but without the need for the toques!

Unlike the clean look of referee's sweaters in the NHL, the referee's sweaters in european hockey are viewed as prime real estate for advertisements, such as the sponsorship worn by referee's at the IIHF World Championships in the 2000's.

Referee at the IIHF World Championships with sponsorship on his sweater

Not even the traditional vertical stripes of the referee's sweaters are considered sacred in european leagues!

European league referee with an unorthodox striping pattern

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 NHL referee Andy Van Hellemond sweater. This sweater was worn during the era of referees wearing their names on the backs of their sweaters. This jersey also features the Stanley Cup Centennial patch as worn on not only all the players jerseys in 1992-93, but also the referees' sweaters.

Van Hellemond began officiating NHL games in 1969 and continued to do so until his retirement in 1996, a span of 28 years, which included 19 Stanley Cup Finals. He became the first on-ice official to wear a helmet in 1984, something which became mandatory in 2006-07.

Van Hellemond was the director of NHL officiating from 2000 to 2004 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

Our video section today pays tribute to referee's and linsemen and the risky job it can be on the ice with the array of sticks, pucks, skates and even fists they must try to avoid, sometimes unsuccessfully.

[NYer]

From Legends of Hockey

Referee / Linesman Category

For three decades Andy Van Hellemond patrolled the ice for the National Hockey League as one of the premier referees in hockey. In 1996 after officiating in 19 of the last 20 Stanley Cup Finals, Andy Van Hellemond hung up his skates and his striped jersey for what he thought would be the last time.

After playing junior hockey as a centre, Van Hellemond began officiating minor-league games in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. After working two years in the Western Hockey League, Van Hellemond signed a minor-league contract with the National Hockey League in 1970. After famed official Bruce Hood hurt his knee early in the 1972-73 season, Andy Van Hellemond refereed his first NHL game season at the tender age of 23. During the course of the next 25 seasons, Van Hellemond redefined the role of the official. An amazing 14 consecutive times, Van Hellemond was ranked as the NHL's #1 referee. He also holds the record for most regular season games (1,475), playoff games (227), and Stanley Cup Final appearances (19).

Andy Van Hellemond officiated in two All-Star games, the 1979 Challenge Cup Series and Rendez-Vouz '87. Van Hellemond also served as President of the Officials Association.

On June 8, 1996, Andy Van Hellemond dropped the puck for the last time in the National Hockey League; game three of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals in Miami, Florida. The Colorado Avalanche was playing the Florida Panthers. Van Hellemond was scheduled to officiate Game 5, but the Avalanche had different thoughts. The Av's captured their first Stanley Cup in Miami a couple of days later in four games.

The 1996-97 season saw Van Hellemond in a different role as Senior Vice-President of the East Coast Hockey League overseeing league and player operations. What goes around comes around in the world of hockey! AndyHellemond had to lace up his skates one more time during a ECHL game, Van as one of the officials scheduled to officiate the game couldn't make it, forcing Andy back into his "Gone but not forgotten" familiar role in hockey.

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An avid hockey fan, especially from the 70's and 80's, I also became a fan of NHL Referee, Andy Van Hellemond. Anyone else remember him?

[Tijeras_Slim]

Not a hockey fan, but sports history is always interesting.

So BTTT

[driftdiver]

Interesting, I just wanna know why so many of them are selectively blind.

[buccaneer81]

That blindness carries all the way to the war room in Toronto most of the time.

[driftdiver]

IMHO it has to do with the size of the market. Across the different sports there is a huge financial incentive to 1. keep the game interesting, and 2. appeal to the larger markets.

NFL, NHL, MLB etc. are all profit motivated businesses.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Van Hellemond was a good referee. Generally regarded as the best in the league when I followed the league very closely in the early 80s.

This, of course, was in the era of Wally “No-Call” Harris and “Turn ‘Em Loose” Bruce Hood.

[driftdiver]

BTW Tampa is gonna beat Boston a second time tomorrow night.

[Retired Greyhound]

[Pompah]

Sometime in the early 70’s at a Western Hockey League play off game in San Diego Van Hellemond refereed a bruising game
between the San Diego Gulls and the Portland team (can’t remember what they called themselves).
I was sitting in row 3 next to the penalty box when he called a cross checking penalty on Connie Madigan.
who was known in those days as “Man Dog Madigan” and he did
not like the call. As Van Hellemond was leaving the penalty
Judges area he skated too close to Connie Madigan who spun
around and smacked the Referee flush in the face knocking
him OUT.! You could have heard a pin drop for about a two
count and then 13,000 plus fans went berserk.
the “Mad Dog” was suspended on the spot and faced a hefty
fine. Andy Vany Hellemond got back on his skates and finished the game. Most Hockey fans don’t care much for the
boys in the stripped shirts. but that night a lot of minds
were changed. I followed Andy’s career for a few years.
Always admired the man.

[buccaneer81]

IMHO it has to do with the size of the market.

Tell me about it. Columbus gets screwed 90% of the time.

[buccaneer81]

I think Tampa Bay will win the Cup. Has that ever happened for a rookie coach before?

Boucher is no dummy. He turned Columbus down and signed with the Lightning.

[NYer]

Thanks for sharing that eventful story! Referees are as much a part of the game as the players. They take similar risks on the ice, but lack comparable compensation.

[kevkrom]

While referee-bashing is a popular pastime in sports, it seems like is every sport there is always one (or perhaps a few) officials who grow to be universally respected. Van Hellemond is one of these rare few.