Former NHL referee dies at 62

Former NHL referee Michael (Mick) McGeough has died. He was 62.

The NHL said in a statement Saturday that McGeough died Friday night in Regina.

McGeough refereed 1,083 regular-season games and 63 playoff contests from 1987 through 2008.

“The National Hockey League lost a true friend of the game last night with the passing of Mick McGeough,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a press release.

“As one of the League’s top referees for 21 years from 1987-88 until his retirement following the 2007-08 season, Mick’s passion for the game shone through on a nightly basis.

“He earned and maintained respect from players, coaches, general managers and his peers throughout his career with a unique style that combined humility and humour with decisiveness and fairness. The NHL family extends its deepest sympathies to his wife Angie and his five children - Jared, Luke, Kara, Karlie and Isaac.”

A page set up on the Go Fund Me website to support the Regina native’s family said he had suffered a stroke on Sunday.

The page went on to say that McGeough was seen by a neurosurgeon in Saskatoon this week, but it was determined the blood clots in his brain had caused irreversible damage and that he would be taken off life support.

The Go Fund Me page had raised more than $12,000 by Saturday morning. The original goal was $10,000.

McGeough, one of the last referees to officiate without a helmet, was one of the most well-known NHL officials during the 1990s and early 2000s.