NHLOA Alumni
NHLOA Alumni

NHL Official: 1972 to 2004

Birthplace: Fredericton, NB

Regular Season: 2109 Games (Linesman)

Playoffs: 156 Games

Stanley Cup Finals: 1

Randy Mitton

Mitton was born on September 22, 1950 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. He first started to officiate hockey games at the age of 12 on outdoor rinks around the city of Calgary AB. At 15, he decided to join the Calgary Officiating Association and within two seasons he was promoted to work the lines for the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He, like most of the officials back then, worked his way up from the Novice, Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget levels before reaching the Juniors and the numerous minor professional leagues. Then at the age of 18, Mitton traded his stick for good as he retired as a player and started attending Referee Schools hosted by the National Hockey League each summer in Banff, AB. In 1971, he reached the Western Hockey League (WHL) and his performance that season got him to be invited from the NHL to attend their rookie camp for officials, which was held in Toronto. Mitton was hired under a minor league linesman contract that summer of 1972 and worked primary the American Hockey League for the following two seasons grinding his teeth and perfecting his craft. The big day came on February 2nd 1974 when he worked his first NHL Regular Season Game in Vancouver when the New York Islanders were in town to play the Canucks. Then his career took another big step on April 10th 1979 when he worked his first NHL Playoff Game in Atlanta with the Toronto Maple Leafs visiting the defunct Atlanta Flames at the old Omni Coliseum. During his 32 years journey with the National Hockey League, Mitton was selected to work numerous important assignments including three All-Star Games (1985 Calgary, 1988 St. Louis & 2001 Denver), the 1988 Canada Cup, several International Games and had the ultimate privilege to be selected to work the 1994 Stanley Cup Final opposing the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers. His 1,500th Regular Season Game was on January 30, 1995 in Edmonton (DET vs EDM) and he reached the impressive 2,000 NHL Regular Season Games milestone on December 26th, 2002 also in Edmonton (VAN vs EDM). He retired from the NHL on April 4th 2004 after working a game between the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks. That night, he skated off the ice with an impressive 2,109 Regular Season Games worked putting him third all time for NHL linesman behind Ray Scapinello and Gerard Gauthier. The accomplished linesman was hired back by the National Hockey League in 2009 as an NHL Video Replay Official for the Edmonton Oilers local games, a position he held until the end of the 2014-15 season. Since retired from working on the ice, Randy got involved in his community making a positive impact on the hockey and officiating program making the game we love so much, better for the local youth. During these years he served on the organizing committees for the 2010 Alberta Cup and the 2012 Telus Cup, hold the position of Director of the Midget AAA and Bantam AAA programs. Randy Mitton’s honesty and good nature as well as his hard work are still to this day greatly missed by our group. His dependable effort that he gave every night, game in and game out made him a well respected member on this association and will be forever greatly missed. Randy has been a mentor and role model for many of his fellow officials and still current members. He has always been the consummate professional, fully dedicated to his National Hockey League career as a Linesman.

Milestones

First NHL Game

February 2, 1974

New York Islanders
at
Canucks Logo

First Playoff Game

April 10, 1979

Toronto Maple Leafs
at
Atlanta Flames

1500th Game

January 30, 1995

Detroit Redwings
at
Edmonton Oilers

2000th Game

December 26, 2002

Vancouver Canucks
at
Edmonton Oilers

Final Game

April 4, 2004

LA Kings
at
San Jose Sharks

All-Star Games

2001 -- DENVER, CO

Colorado All Star Game

Pepsi Center
February 04, 2001

1988 -- ST. LOUIS, MO

St Louis All Star Game

St. Louis Arena
February 09, 1988

1985 -- CALGARY, AB

Calgary All Star Game

Olympic Saddledome
February 12, 1985

Stanley Cup Finals

1994 Stanley Cup

Vancouver Canucks
vs
New York Rangers

Outdoor Games

2003 Heritage Classic

2003 Heritage Classic

November 22, 2003

Commonwealth Stadium
Edmonton, AB

Montreal Canadiens
at
Edmonton Oilers