Matt Pavelich (born March 12, 1934) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

retired former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

ice-hockey linesman, the first to ever be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987. After his career as an NHL linesman, Pavelich served as Supervisor of Officials as well as the Director of Player Discipline for the United Hockey League.

Early career

He began officiating when he was fourteen, working minor hockey games in

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

, Ontario, and by the time he was twenty years old was referee-in-chief of the Northern Michigan Intermediate League. Pavelich worked in the American Hockey League in the 1955–56 season but at age twenty-two, he made his

début on October 11, 1956. His older brother

Marty Pavelich Martin Nicholas Pavelich (born November 6, 1927) is a Canadian former ice hockey left winger. He played ten seasons for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League from 1947 until 1957. Pavelich is the last surviving member of the Red Wi ...

had been a player with the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

since 1947 and when the younger Pavelich joined the NHL in 1956, it marked the first time in NHL history that there had been a player/official brother combination.

Career in the NHL

He retired after 23 years and 1,727 regular season games, second only to Neil Armstrong. He also officiated 245 playoff games, second only to John D'Amico. He also worked seven Stanley Cup Finals. After that Pavelich became the NHL's supervisor of officials for referee-in-chief

Scotty Morrison Ian "Scotty" Morrison (born April 22, 1930) is a Canadian former National Hockey League referee and vice-president, and the former president and chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Morrison played junior hockey in Quebec and then became a refer ...

. In 1987, Pavelich was the first linesman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. On January 24, 1979, Pavelich refereed the first period of the game between the New York Rangers and the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. This was because the scheduled referee for the game Bruce Hood, was unable to make it to the

Capital Centre Capitol Center or Capitol Centre or Capital Center or Capital Centre may refer to: Singapore *Capitol Centre, Singapore United Arab Emirates *Capital Centre (Abu Dhabi) United Kingdom *Capitol Centre, Cardiff, a shopping mall United States * Ca ...

in time, arriving late and taking over the referee chores at the start of the second period. Pavelich is in his ninth season with the United Hockey League. He served the league as a Supervisor of Officials as well as the Director of Player Discipline for the first half of the 1998–99 season.

References

External links

* 1934 births Canadian people of Croatian descent Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from Ontario Living people National Hockey League officials {{Canada-icehockey-bio-stubBiographical information from https://nhlofficials.com/

Early career

Career in the NHL

See also

References

External links