Sure, every NHL player and fan can be furious at officials from time to time.
It’s impossible to agree with every call and to be fair; officials have a really tough job keeping up with the incredible pace and making thousands of decisions every game, everything in just a split second.
But there’s always a mutual respect between refs and players, and that’s what makes it so special.
No matter what happens, they show appreciation for each other at the end of the day, acknowledging how difficult their jobs really are. And we saw a great example of that after Wednesday’s game between the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Ryan Galloway started officiating at the early age of 12 and has been a member of the NHL Officials Association since 2002.
At the age of 30, in 2002, he was offered a minor league linesman contract. On October. 17, 2002, he officiated his first NHL game, and on Feb. 9, 2018, he dressed up for his 1,000th game.
Although it’s not confirmed, rumor has it that the veteran linesman will retire after this season, and word appears to have spread to the players in the league.
Galloway was a linesman on Wednesday, and directly after the Rangers won over the Lightning, all the players in the Rangers skated over to Galloway to give him their thanks and best wishes.
Their respectful act was caught on camera and quickly went viral, with everyone absolutely loving it.
”Love to see this,” one user said on social media.
”Respect!” another said.
”Classy move by the Rangers,” a third added.
Dave Jackson, a former NHL ref and now a rules analyst for ESPN, sent his respect to Galloway on X, formerly Twitter.
”Ryan Galloway….great linesman and one of the most respectful gentlemen you’ll ever meet. Mentor to young officials and voice of reason to his crew. Congrats, Ry!” he wrote.