Bill McCreary (referee)
| Bill McCreary | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 2014 | |||
| Born |
November 17, 1955 Guelph, ON, CAN |
||
| Playing career | 1984–2011 | ||
William McCreary (born November 17, 1955 in Guelph, Ontario) is a former National Hockey League referee .
McCreary refereed his first NHL game in 1984 at Capital Centre in Landover, MD, then home of the Washington Capitals. On February 16, 2008, McCreary refereed his 1,500th NHL game in a match between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. McCreary has been wearing uniform number 7 since the 1994–95 NHL season and has been wearing a helmet for most of his refereeing career. McCreary has a pregame ritual in which he flips the puck in the air before dropping it for the opening faceoff. He worked fifteen Stanley Cup Finals, the 1991 Canada Cup, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1998 Nagano Olympics, where he officiated the Gold Medal game won by the Czech Republic.
During the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, he officiated the men's hockey gold medal game won by Canada vs USA by the score of 5-2.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, McCreary worked building kitchen cabinets to make ends meet.
In 2007, McCreary was selected to officiate the Stanley Cup Finals for the 13th year in a row. In 2009, McCreary officiated the Stanley Cup Finals for the 14th time. He was also selected as one of 13 NHL referees to officiate at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, including the Gold Medal Game.
...
Wikipedia