Leon Stickle

Stickle’s first NHL game was October 17, 1970. During his career, he officiated six Stanley Cup finals, 2,069 regular season games, 206 playoff games, two Canada Cups, and four All-Star games, including the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-vous ’87. From the 1994-95 season until his retirement, he wore uniform number 33.

Stickle is the son of Ivan Stickle and his wife Bernice, and has a sister Gail. Born in Toronto in 1948, Stickle and his sister and parents moved to Milton, Ontario in 1958. Stickle played baseball for the Milton Red Sox in the Halton County Intermediate League, and also for the Milton Midgets in 1964. After playing for the Sarnia Jr. B Legionnaires, Leon played hockey for his hometown Milton Merchant Juniors, a O.H.A Central Junior C team.

After a 27-year career patrolling the blue lines, Stickle joined the Western Professional Hockey League, where he spent three seasons as supervisor of officials before being named director of officiating in July 2000. In 2003, Stickle was hired as the NHL’s supervisor of officials. Stickle left his job at the time as director of hockey operations for the Central Hockey League. Stickle spent 27 seasons as a linesman in the NHL before moving to the CHL.