Bill McCreary
Hockey Hall of Fame Logo

NHL Official: 1982 to 2011

Birthplace: Guelph, ON

Regular Season: 1737 Games (Referee)

Playoffs: 297 Games

Stanley Cup Finals: 15

Hall of Fame Induction: 2014

Bill McCreary

Bill McCreary was born in Guelph, Ontario in 1955. Like most young boys, McCreary was an aspiring National Hockey League player, but after a brief junior career that included stops with the St. Catharines Black Hawks, Buffalo Tondas and Windsor Spitfires between 1972 and 1975, he was approached about officiating minor hockey. He joined the Ontario Hockey Association as a linesman in 1976-77, and then spent the next two seasons as a referee. After his third year in the OHA, John McCauley, the NHL’s Supervisor of Officials, invited him to attend a training camp. Impressed with his abilities, McCreary was offered part-time work in the Central Hockey League and the American Hockey Leagues for the season.

In 1982, Scotty Morrison, the Referee-in-Chief of the National Hockey League, signed McCreary to an NHL contract. On November 3, 1984, he worked his first NHL game – a contest between the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. He officiated his final NHL game on April 2, 2011, and fittingly, the home team was once again the Washington Capitals, this time hosting the Buffalo Sabres.

In total, Bill McCreary officiated 1,737 regular season games, 297 playoff games and one All-Star game. Among his most memorable NHL games are the Stanley Cup finals between 1994 and 2007 as well as 2009, the 1994 All-Star Game in New York, the final game played in Maple Leaf Gardens on February 13, 1999, and Wayne Gretzky’s last game on April 18, 1999.

In 2010, McCreary officiated his record-breaking 44th Stanley Cup Final game, surpassing the mark previously held by Bill Chadwick.

On the international stage, McCreary officiated at the 1991 Canada Cup, the 1998, 2002 and 2010 Olympic Winter Games, including the gold medal games at all three tournaments, and the 2005 Spengler Cup in Switzerland. Amongst his acknowledged career highlights are the 2002 and 2010 Olympic gold medal games between the United States and Canada, held in Salt Lake City and Vancouver respectively.

Bill McCreary is remembered for his fair and consistent officiating through a long career, as well as his trademark puck-flip before each opening faceoff, and is now an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Milestones

First NHL Game

November 3, 1984

New Jersey Devils
at
Washington Capitals

Hall of Fame Induction

2014

Hockey Hall of Fame

All-Star Games

1994 -- NEW YORK, NY

New York All Star Game

Madison Square Garden
January 22, 1994

Stanley Cup Finals

2010 Stanley Cup

Chicago Blackhawks
vs
Philadelphia Flyers

2009 Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Pengiuns
vs
Detroit Redwings

2007 Stanley Cup

Anaheim Ducks
vs
Ottawa Senators

2006 Stanley Cup

Carolina Hurricanes
vs
Edmonton Oilers

2004 Stanley Cup

Tampa Bay Lightning
vs
Calgary Flames

2003 Stanley Cup

New Jersey Devils
vs
Anaheim Ducks

2002 Stanley Cup

Detroit Redwings
vs
Carolina Hurricanes

2001 Stanley Cup

Colorado Avalanche
vs
New Jersey Devils

2000 Stanley Cup

New Jersey Devils
vs
Dallas Stars

1999 Stanley Cup

Dallas Stars
vs
Buffalo Sabres

1998 Stanley Cup

Detroit Redwings
vs
Washington Capitals

1997 Stanley Cup

Detroit Redwings
vs
Philadelphia Flyers

1996 Stanley Cup

Colorado Avalanche
vs
Florida Panthers

1995 Stanley Cup

New Jersey Devils
vs
Detroit Redwings

1994 Stanley Cup

Vancouver Canucks
vs
New York Rangers

International

2010 Vancouver Olympics

Vancouver Olmypics

WINTER OLYMPICS

1998 NAGANO Olympics

Nagano Olympics

WINTER OLYMPICS

Outdoor Games

2009 Winter Classic

2009 Winter Classic

January 1, 2009

Wrigley Field
Chicago, IL

Detroit Redwings
at
Chicago Blackhawks