Ray Scapinello

Raymond Angelo Joseph Scapinello was born on November 5, 1946, and spent his childhood in Glen Christie, Ontario—a tiny community of about 80 people built around a quarry, located between Guelph and Hespeler. The son of Dorothy and George "Sonny" Scapinello, he had an older sister, Dianne, and a younger brother, Dougie, as well as a nephew named Adam. Playing hockey as a kid, he picked up the nickname "Scampy" because he was small but an exceptional skater. Despite that skill, he never turned pro and stopped playing at 21.

In the late 1960s, while working for General Electric, Scapinello joined the Guelph Referees Association and started officiating games. He attended the NHL rookie officials’ camp in 1970 but didn’t make the cut; instead, he was invited to work in the Ontario Hockey Association. After a year there, he tried the NHL camp again and succeeded. At age 24, he was hired by the NHL in 1971 and worked his first game on October 17, 1971, in Buffalo between the Sabres and the Minnesota North Stars.

He officiated his first Stanley Cup Final in the spring of 1980, one of 21 he would work over his career. From the 1994–95 season onward, he wore jersey number 53. In 1998, he was one of four officials chosen for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. There, he and the others had to quickly adapt to Olympic rules—most notably the requirement that all officials wear protective helmets. It was the only time in his career he wore one, as the NHL had a grandfather clause that exempted him until he retired before helmets became mandatory for all officials in 2006–07.

His final regular-season game was on April 2, 2004, in Buffalo, with the Sabres facing the Toronto Maple Leafs. He chose that location to end his career where it began. He then participated in the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs before retiring that June after 33 seasons as an NHL linesman. His totals: 2,500 regular-season games, 426 playoff games, plus appearances in the Canada Cup, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, three All-Star games (including the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-vous ’87), and 21 Stanley Cup Finals. Notably, he never missed a game due to injury or illness.

After retiring, Scapinello worked part-time as an officials supervisor for the Ontario Hockey League and the Central Hockey League, and taught at summer officiating camps, including the North American School of Officiating.