Veteran NHL Referee Career Ended After On-Ice Injury
Veteran NHL referee Kevin Pollock has called it a career after an injury sustained last month proved to be season-ending. He has since rejuvenated his career though with a new role in the Professional Women's Hockey League.
NHL referee suffers career-ending injury
Last month, Pollock was officiating a game between the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks in which the Ducks won 4-3. During the game however, Pollock was on the receiving end of a collision with Sabres power forward Jordan Greenway, who slid into him after he lost his balance on a scoring attempt. The referee had to be helped off the ice in what would turn out to be his last time being part of an NHL game.
For Pollock, the worst part about this is that he will not be able to retire the way he wanted to. Typically, NHL referees are allowed to dictate their final match. The only rule is that it must be a regular season game. The retiring official is allowed to pick the game and the rest of his crew.
NHL referee joins Professional Women's Hockey League
Luckily for Pollock, this will not be his last chance to officiate hockey games. Since suffering the injury, he has joined the PWHL, helping run their replay review room, similar to the situation room in Toronto that NHL fans complain about so often.
Pollock officiated in more than 1600 career regular season NHL games and more than 200 playoff games. In fact, he's 6th all-time in NHL playoff games officiated. The fact that he's been in so many games and is not a well-known official by name is an indication of how good he was throughout his career. The NHL will surely miss having him in their games.
Source: Heartbreaking Update Confirmed for NHL Referee Who Was Injured
| POLL | ||
24 MARS | 78 ANSWERS Veteran NHL Referee Career Ended After On-Ice Injury Do you think former NHL referee Kevin Pollock was good at his job? | ||
| Yes | 32 | 41 % |
| No | 29 | 37.2 % |
| Don't know | 17 | 21.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
