Gord Dwyer

Born in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Dwyer grew up playing hockey in the Sackville Flyers Minor Hockey program. He would go on and play until his junior years, playing Junior B for the Sackville Blazers and a stint of Junior A with the Halifax Oland Exports before retiring at the age of 20, focusing on officiating.

His officiating journey started a few years earlier at the age of 14 while he was still playing minor hockey. He spent his first few years working all levels of hockey in the Sackville Minor Hockey System before reaching the elite levels once his playing days were over where he officiated Junior and University games.

A couple of years later, Dwyer was hired by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) to work as a linesman, while still working the lower levels as a referee. The Saint Mary’s University graduate, who studied Psychology and Criminology, made the transition from being a linesman to wearing the orange arm bands in the QMJHL the very next season.

His passion for the game and his determination to make it to the NHL as a referee had him packing his bags in the summer of 2001 heading to Amarillo, Texas to work the Central Hockey League (CHL) full-time as a referee. Dwyer spent two seasons in the CHL reaching the finals in his second season.

He was offered a Minor League referee contract by the National Hockey League in the summer of 2003 and was promoted to a full-time NHL referee status three seasons later in the summer of 2006 at the age of 29.