The best part of writing this hockey blog for women is when you ask me questions and I actually know the answer! And you have been asking about the Referee and the Linesman. Who are they? What are their jobs? How do they not get punched in the face more often? Well, I’ll answer the last one first. Experience. By the time the Linesman and Referee have made it to the NHL level of officiating, they know what they are doing…even though many may disagree. But before we get to the poor guys who are hit, kicked, punched and yelled at continuously by players, managers and fans, lets learn about what their duties are in the first place.
Referee
The Referee and the Linesman are the two officials on the ice and the Referee is the senior official. He supervises the game and is the final say on disputes. Other duties of the Referee include:
- To drop the puck for a face-off at the start of each period
- To impose penalties
- Announce the goals
- Announce the penalties
- Oversee the players Uniforms
- Report details to the Commissioner
- Start and end the game and the periods.
Linesman
The Linesman is the junior official on the ice. They usually spend most of their time at the red or blue lines and will call the icing and offsides and in some instances consult with Referees on the penalty calls. Other duties include:
- The linesman will face off the puck at all times except at the start of each period and following the scoring of a goal.
- Reporting to the Referee
- Break up fights
- Can stop play for certain penalties, interference, etc.
The Referee and Linesman usually grow up playing hockey and will attend a Hockey camp and then work their way up the tier levels. They must be in top shape as they do not play 45 second shifts like the players, but only get a real break in between periods to rest. A Referee or Linesman who can endure all that and act professional when you have angry coaches and players to deal with are the ones who make it to the NHL level.
What’s the pay? This is interesting. Even though hockey players are the least paid than other athletes in football, basketball and baseball, no other officials in any of the four major sport leagues makes more than the ones in the NHL. A starting referee may make $115,000 all the way up to a veteran Referee at $255,000. Kerry Fraser (shown) made the most ever as a referee at $340,000. A Linesmen, on the other hand, starts around $75,000 and up to $175,000. These are the most up to date amounts I could find.
At first I thought, WOW! Not a bad pay! Then I thought about the abuse, the pain, the travel and everything else that you would have to endure to be an NHL official and maybe, just maybe, I have a little more respect for them.
At least until they make a bad call on the Kings!
JMan1865
March 12, 2012
When you think about their pay, also remember that minimum wage for an NHL player is currently $525,000.
tracykingslover
March 12, 2012
Thats crazy! lol, only in hockey where the players make just double the refs. Makes me want to go see how much the other three major sport’s refs make.
The Recipe Seeker
March 12, 2012
What a great post on something we all wanted to know and didn’t know how to ask. Thank you. This would make a great subject when we do our radio show. I am now wanting to know much more.
tracykingslover
March 13, 2012
Well, not sure how much more I know.
The refs have the orange arm band and the linesmen don’t. 
JMan1865
March 13, 2012
Down the road, you should look into the off-ice officials as well. There’s a lot going on there that no one really notices. There are about 20 people each night doing their thing behind the scenes so that we can all watch the game smoothly. I used to work for my local WCHL/ECHL team in that capacity, in almost every position.
tracykingslover
March 13, 2012
That is a really really great idea! I’ll keep your avatar so I can question you.
j/k I won’t bug you. But that is intriguing. I also always wanted to know how they change the floor from the bball court to ice. It just seems so weird. And how about how they change the whole inside of Staples to Kings from an earlier Clipper game, or LA Live.
wow, now that I think about it, there must be hundreds involved in the set up and down of the game. cool.
Bev
March 13, 2012
But,but, Kerry didn’t have too much left over after all the use of hair gel and spray
Back in the day of 1 ref,, there was a lot more ice for the players to use. Calls don’t seem to be any more accurate now either.
tracykingslover
March 13, 2012
rofl!!! He did have the sweetest hair. and he was the last to not wear a helmet too. Can’t mess up the do!
Oh, and as I was looking around for pics of Kerry, they had one where he came out on the ice for the legends classic game last year and everyone started boo’ing him and he just started dancing around with his usual f u. lol. What an ass.