Marc Joannette (born November 3, 1968) is a Canadian former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, who wore uniform number 25. As of the end of the

2022–23 NHL season The 2022–23 NHL season was the 106th season of operation (105th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The regular season began on October 7, 2022, when the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators played the first of two game ...

, he has officiated 1,520 regular season games and 172 playoff games. His first game was on October 1, 1999. He officiated on April 6, 2007 when

Martin Brodeur Martin Pierre Brodeur (; born May 6, 1972) is a Canadian–American former professional ice hockey goaltender and current team executive. He played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 21 of them for the New Jersey Devils, with whom ...

broke

Bernie Parent Bernard Marcel Parent (born April 3, 1945) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 13 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1965 and 1979, an ...

's single season wins record with his 48th win of the season. Joannette was selected to officiate the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, and

2018 Stanley Cup Finals The 2018 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2017–18 season and the culmination of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals defeated the Western Co ...

. He was also selected to officiate the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games in Canada. On October 5, 2008, Joannette was involved in an odd play in a game between the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

and the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

. Early in the third period, Jackets winger

Jason Chimera Jason Chimera (; born May 2, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played for five teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Chimera played his junior career in the WHL, for Medicine Hat and Brandon. ...

was skating across the ice in the Leafs' zone to hit Leafs winger

Alexei Ponikarovsky Alexei Ponikarovsky (, ''Oleksiy Volodymyrovych Ponikarovskyi''; born 9 April 1980) is a Ukrainian–Canadian former professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Lea ...

when Joannette suddenly crossed Chimera's path, causing him and Chimera to collide. The force of the impact knocked Chimera's helmet off, but both he and Joannette got back to their feet almost immediately.Referee Joannette Levels Jason Chimera Leading to Leaf Goal
/ref> The Leafs ended up scoring on the ensuing rush, as Ponikarovsky put the puck in the back of the net. The goal gave the Leafs a 4-2 lead, but the Jackets would end up tying the game, and winning it in overtime.

References

1968 births Living people National Hockey League officials Canadian ice hockey officials People from Verdun, Quebec Ice hockey people from Montreal {{Sports-official-bio-stub