In poll of players, Mccauley selected best referee
Wes Mccauley keeps his good calls close and his bad calls closer.
Any time the veteran NHL referee is feeling too good or gets down on himself, he breaks out a binder full of his missed calls and looks through it.
“It’s a humbling book,” Mccauley said. “Trust me, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. There’s times you wish you could saw your arm off.”
Mccauley’s arms have signaled countless penalties, goals and nogoals since his NHL career began in 2003. Over the past 15 years, he has developed a reputation as not only the most animated referee in the game but the best in hockey based on his consistency, rapport with players and coaches and a demeanor that’s equal parts entertaining and professional.
In an NHLPA poll last spring, almost half of players chose Mccauley as the league’s best referee, honoring a man in stripes who’s far more used to getting barked at than complimented.
“I don’t think I’m that good,” McCauley said. “My job’s just to officiate hockey games and to do the best I can and to move on to the next game and really to stay out of the highlights.”
Mccauley has his own highlight reels because he enjoys hamming it up when he makes announcements. When he reaches to his right hip to turn on the microphone, it’s must-see entertainment.
His flair for the dramatic once sent former Rangers coach Alain Vigneault into a laughing fit on the bench, and it has been the subject of mocking from veteran officials for just how demonstrative he can be when whistling a penalty or waving off a goal. Mccauley knows he’s more exuberant than he has to be, but that’s part of the fun for him and players.
Mccauley, 46, earned the votes of 47.8 percent of players as the NHL’S best referee, well ahead of Kelly Sutherland (17.7 percent), Tim Peel (4.4 percent), Dan O’halloran and Trevor Hanson (2.7 percent apiece). From Georgetown, Ontario, he is popular and respected because he gets it right more often than not, apologizes when he doesn’t and knows how to explain his calls to players and coaches.