Jon McIsaac

The Truro, Nova Scotia native first donned the stripes at age 15 while still being an active player. It was his older brother Jamie, who was a referee at the time, who first influenced him to give officiating a try.

Jon started off his officiating journey as a linesman. His on-ice performances were quickly recognized when he was selected after only two seasons as a linesman to work the Canada Winter Games in Bathurst, NB. After suffering a couple concussions in his first year of Junior B as a player, Jon then decided that the best path for him to fulfill his dream to skate in the NHL was to focus on officiating.

He would reach the QMJHL at age 19 as a linesman and by then had also begun refereeing in the junior ranks. He moved up to become a referee in the QMJHL two years later at age 21 where he would spend the next three seasons perfecting his craft. During his last season as a referee in the QMJHL, McIsaac also worked a few games in the Central Hockey League (CHL) on a part-time basis, getting his first taste of professional hockey.

The following summer (2009), he accepted a full-time referee contract with the CHL. Jon moved to the state of Texas to work the now-defunct professional league but he was still spending his summer back home in Truro where he was also an assistant pro at the Truro Golf Club during the summer. He would end up working two seasons as a full-time referee in the CHL, worked the finals each year and was also selected to work the 2011 CHL All-Star Game in Rapid City, SD before accepting an offer to work the East Coast Hockey League and the American Hockey League the following season.

The next summer was an exciting one for McIsaac as he was named Golf Pro at the Abercrombie Country Club in New Glasgow, NS. Things got even better that summer for McIsaac when NHL Director of Officiating at the time, Terry Gregson called him and offered him an NHL Minor-League contract at age 28 (2012). He would work a total of four seasons under a minor-league contract before being promoted to a full-time NHL referee in the summer of 2016.