Wes McCauley
NHL Referee

NHLOA Member since 2001

Birthplace: Georgetown, ON

Regular Season: 1,217 Games

Playoffs: 186 Games

Stanley Cup Finals: 9

* Game numbers updated as of Sep 1, 2022

Wes McCauley

McCauley was born in Georgetown, Ontario a small town just outside Mississauga. The former defenseman grew up in an officating family, his father was John McCauley, a former NHL referee who worked a total of 15 years on the ice before becoming the NHL Director of Officiating after an eye injury forced him to hang his whistle. Although he was gravitating around the officiating world throughout his whole childhood, just like any Canadian kid, McCauley dreamed to make it to the NHL as a player and not as an official! In 1989, Wes accepted an offer from Michigan State Univesity and went on to play for the Spartans for a total of 4 seasons. He was named co-captain of his team in his final season sharing the duty with ex-NHL player and good friend Bryan Smolinski. At the end of his last season at Michigan State (1993), McCauley won the inaugural Terry Flanagan Memorial Award, a recognition who is given to the player who best demonstrates perseverance, dedication and courage while overcoming severe adversity and which is voted by the coaches of each CCHA team. During his time with Michigan State, Wes was also drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 8th round (150th overall) at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft who were hosted in Vancouver B.C. that year. After graduating from Michigan State, McCauley went on to play some professional hockey for the following four seasons (1993-1997). He skated in the International Hockey League (IHL) with the Las Vegas Thunder and the Fort Wayne Komets, the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with the Knoxville Checkers, the Colonial Hockey League with the Muskegon Fury and finished his playing days oversea in the Italian Serie A League where he dressed up for Milan. Once his playing days were over, his desire to stay around the game of hockey and also his unusual life experiences with the officiating world pushed him to pick up a whistle. He first started to work games in the different minor hockey leagues in the province of Ontario, Canada. The following year (1998), he was hired by the East Coast Hockey League as a referee and ended up spending the following three seasons working on his craft in that league. Former NHL Director of Officiating Andy Van Hellemond offered him a minor league referee contract in the summer of 2001. He made his NHL debut on January 20, 2003 in Columbus OH when the Chicago Blackhawks were in town to play the Blue Jackets. That night McCauley became only the third ever second-generation (after his father John) to work an NHL Regular Season Game as an NHL on-ice official. The other two being Mark Shewchyk (father Dave Shewchyk) and Angelo D’Amico (father John D’Amico). McCauley was promoted to a full time NHL status in the summer of 2005.

Milestones

First NHL Game

January 20, 2003

Chicago Blackhawks
at
Columbus Blue Jackets

First Playoff Game

April 12, 2007

New York Islanders
at
Buffalo Sabres

1000th Game

December 23, 2018

LA Kings
at
Las Vegas Golden Knights

All-Star Games

2018 - TAMPA, FL

Tampa All Star Game

Amalie Arena
January 28, 2018

Stanley Cup Finals

2022 Stanley Cup

Colorado Avalanche
vs
Tampa Bay Lightning

2020 Stanley Cup

Dallas Stars
vs
Tampa Bay Lightning

2019 Stanley Cup

St Louis Blues
vs
Boston Bruins

2018 Stanley Cup

Washington Capitals
vs
Las Vegas Golden Knights

2017 Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Pengiuns
vs
Nashville Predators

2016 Stanley Cup

Pittsburgh Pengiuns
vs
San Jose Sharks

2015 Stanley Cup

Chicago Blackhawks
vs
Tampa Bay Lightning

2014 Stanley Cup

LA Kings
vs
New York Rangers

2013 Stanley Cup

Chicago Blackhawks
vs
Boston Bruins

International

2016 World Cup of Hockey

2016 World Cup of Hockey

Toronto, ON
Canada

Outdoor Games

2021 Outdoors @ Lake Tahoe

NHL Lake Tahoe

February 21, 2021

Edgewood Tahoe Resort
Stateline, NV

Philadelphia Flyers
at
Boston Bruins

2021 Outdoors @ Lake Tahoe

NHL Lake Tahoe

February 20, 2021

Edgewood Tahoe Resort
Stateline, NV

Las Vegas Golden Knights
at
Colorado Avalanche

2016 Winter Classic

2016 Winter Classic

January 1, 2016

Gillette Stadium
Foxborough, MA

Montreal Canadiens
at
Boston Bruins

2014 Stadium Series

2014 Stadium Series

January 26, 2014

Yankee Stadium
New York, NY

New York Rangers
at
New Jersey Devils