She then posted a screen grab of Rule 31.11, which indeed reads, \u201cIf, through misadventure or sickness, the Referees and Linespersons appointed are prevented from appearing, the League will make every attempt to find suitable replacement officials, otherwise, the Managers or Coaches of the two Clubs shall agree on Referee(s) and Linesperson(s). If they are unable to agree, they shall appoint a player from each side who shall act as Referee and Linesperson; the player of the home Club acting as Referee and the player of the visiting Club as Linesperson.<\/p>\n
If the regularly appointed officials appear during the progress of the game, they shall at once replace the temporary officials.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tweet went viral with many hockey fans, unaware of the nearly 100-year NHL rule, astonished that it was real.<\/p>\n
The Athletic gave Campbell a copy of the rule, which he read aloud. Carolina Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky, standing there and listening to the conversation with the biggest grin on his face, laughed out loud when Campbell joked that the GMs would never agree on two players.<\/p>\n
Campbell, 73, was shocked by the rule. Remember again, Campbell has been the NHL\u2019s senior executive VP of hockey ops since 1998. He also coached in the NHL from 1985-98 and played from 1974-85. There\u2019s little he doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s when the lightbulb went off in Campbell\u2019s head: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it was when I was coaching or playing, but I think this happened. Two officials didn\u2019t make a game because of a snowstorm and I think two players were the linesmen.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
According to NHL Stats, on Jan. 15, 1983, in a game between the Hartford Whalers and New Jersey Devils at the Hartford Civic Center, a blizzard caused the late arrival of referee Ron Fournier and linesman Dan Marouelli.<\/p>\n
It was decided that Whalers defenseman Mickey Volcan and Devils forward Garry Howatt would serve as linesmen. And that\u2019s what they did until Fournier and Marouelli arrived in the second period.<\/p>\n
Linesman Ron Foyt, who did make the game on time, served as referee until moving back to linesman once Fournier suited up.<\/p>\n
Foyt has been an NHL video goal judge assigned to Minnesota Wild games since the organization\u2019s inception in 2000. Before that, he served in the same role at North Stars home games.<\/p>\n
Foyt flew into Hartford the night before the game. Fournier and Marouelli were coming from Boston. Foyt said he was sitting in a \u201cvery lonely\u201d officials\u2019 room before the game, expecting Fournier and Marouelli to walk in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were no cellphones in those days, so I didn\u2019t know where they are,\u201d Foyt recalled. \u201cSo I\u2019m sitting in the referee room by myself and the time is ticking, ticking, ticking. I figured, well, they\u2019re not going to get here. So I dusted off the rulebook to see what we\u2019re supposed to do and it says, \u2018Just ask each team to supply a player to be a linesman,\u2019 and I would be the referee.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foyt went to both teams and asked, \u201cOK, it\u2019s not my call, it\u2019s your call. Do you want to play the game or pick two players? But it was a rivalry and a big game and both coaches wanted to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_5235-scaled-e1773966972865.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n An image commemorating the time Garry Howatt and Mickey Volcan served as linesmen in a Devils-Whalers game is displayed in the Wild\u2019s NHL alumni room. (Michael Russo for The Athletic)<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I put arm bands on,\u201d Foyt said. \u201c(Then-director of officiating) Bryan Lewis asked me the next day, \u2018Why the hell did you put arm bands on?\u2019 I said, \u2018Because I\u2019m a linesman. It\u2019s the only chance I\u2019ll ever have to put arm bands on and referee an NHL game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Foyt held a little pregame meeting with Volcan and Howatt, who wore \u201csweat tops and green sweatpants.\u201d He asked if they had any questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had two: \u2018How much do we get paid?\u2019 and \u2018If we break up a fight and we get punched, can we fight back?\u2019\u201d Foyt said. \u201cI said, \u2018No, please don\u2019t do that. That\u2019s not a good thing to do and you make a helluva lot more playing than you do as a linesman.\u2019 But that literally was their only two questions. I figured they\u2019d ask, \u2018When do I call an icing, when do I call an offsides, what are the faceoff rules?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we went on the ice and the crowd was like, \u2018What\u2019s going on here?\u2019 And Gordie Howe was playing for Hartford and came up to me and said, \u2018You\u2019ll never see this again,\u2019 which was true.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big thing Foyt wanted to figure out was which line each player should cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould they cover their home attacking blue line or should they cover the opponent\u2019s attacking blue line?\u201d Foyt said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t figure it out in my head, which would be less controversial. I don\u2019t know how I figured it out, but they had no questions except for those two. That was it. They said, \u2018This can\u2019t be hard.\u2019 They dropped the puck fine and they moved around the rink OK. And the game was \u2026 the players played the game a little more mild-mannered. We only had one scuffle, which wasn\u2019t a big deal, but the two guys that they picked were tough guys on their teams. Instead of picking guys that were Lady Byng winners, they picked two tough guys. Finally, Fournier and Marouelli showed up halfway through the second period.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Campbell was told what the NHL\u2019s research department unearthed, he said, \u201cHowatt was a tough little guy. That\u2019s why I remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Walkom, the NHL\u2019s executive vice president of officiating and a former NHL ref, said the rule has been in every version of the rulebook he has read since the 1980s. Well, NHL Stats told The Athletic that the rule actually appears in the 1928-29 rulebook \u2014 the oldest rulebook the NHL has on file. The league does possess the Pacific Coast League rulebook from 1923-24 and this rule or any kind of variation of it does not appear in there.<\/p>\n
So somewhere along the line, something must have happened to necessitate a compromise if officials didn\u2019t make the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would think that it would be a rare moment where we wouldn\u2019t be able to get officials to a game or they wouldn\u2019t be able to agree on allowing someone else to go in and do the games,\u201d Walkom said. \u201cSomeone from the American Hockey League that would be affiliated with us, someone that was on our staff that we knew that we could trust to manage a hockey game, would be the ones chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-161488292-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n NHL executive vice president of officiating Stephen Walkom, pictured working an NHL game in 2013, can\u2019t envision a scenario where the league actually pulls the trigger on rule 31.11. (Frederick Breedon \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What are the chances, but immediately after this rule was discovered by Shirman in her avid NHL rulebook sleuthing, the league actually ran into some travel logistics for officials.<\/p>\n
A blizzard slammed Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday and veteran Chris Lee, who lives in a Twin Cities suburb, was called upon to officiate weekend Wild games against the Rangers and Maple Leafs because refs couldn\u2019t make it into town. Referee Brandon Schrader, who called Saturday\u2019s game with Lee, acted as a linesman in Sunday\u2019s Wild-Maple Leafs game because he was stranded in Minnesota at the same time the NHL couldn\u2019t get a linesman in due to one getting hurt the night before in the Wild-Rangers game.<\/p>\n
Tuesday night, travel issues caused one of the refs assigned to a Jets-Predators game to not make it to Winnipeg. So the league decided that, coincidentally, Schrader \u2014 the other ref assigned \u2014 would officiate the game solo with two linesmen like the old days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people don\u2019t realize is during the year, we have a lot of changes,\u201d Walkom said. \u201cWe make a lot of changes for injury or illness. A lot of things happen during the season. Our guys are flying commercial flights, they\u2019re taking trains, they\u2019re sometimes driving. We\u2019ve been sort of fortunate over the years. But an official might get injured in the first period. We know how to run the system with three men. We know how to run it with two people as well. So we make a lot of changes at the last minute. There\u2019s a lot of fill-ins, but over 1,312 games, it\u2019s remarkable how all the guys get to their workplace. They figure it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut years and years ago, if you got to the point where you wouldn\u2019t have anybody there because of misadventure and they couldn\u2019t agree on who was to do it, they would want the game to go on. And to do that, they would want to appoint players from their team to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walkom can\u2019t envision a scenario where the league would actually pull the trigger on the rule.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we can assign who we think was capable of doing the game, but we never want to put our players in jeopardy and not put officials on the ice that we don\u2019t think are competent and qualified to work the hockey game,\u201d Walkom said. \u201cLike I said, it\u2019s a rare thing, but I think at some point in time, in the NHL, through misadventure, weather, sickness, something, you must have had a time where GMs didn\u2019t agree on who to put on the ice because of officials not showing up and they had to put a remedy in place in the book to account for having the game covered.\u201d<\/p>\n
We queried a dozen or so GMs during this week\u2019s GM meetings in Florida, and most had never heard of the rule.<\/p>\n
That also means they\u2019re not on social media, which we envy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland said when told the rule by The Athletic.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d said Minnesota\u2019s Bill Guerin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re kidding?\u201d said Philadelphia\u2019s Daniel Bri\u00e8re.<\/p>\n
The few who did know of the rule \u2014 Winnipeg\u2019s Kevin Cheveldayoff, Dallas\u2019 Jim Nill and the Islanders\u2019 Mathieu Darche \u2014 knew from social media or the fact their team\u2019s social media crew latched onto the \u201cstory\u201d and had some fun determining which of their team\u2019s players would make the best refs and the best linesmen.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur social media team dove right into it, and they picked Eric Comrie, and that\u2019s probably a good one for our organization,\u201d Cheveldayoff said. \u201cHe takes things very seriously but keeps things very light. So I could see him really taking to a role of being that person that arbitrarily adjudicates a game down the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n
We asked some GMs who they\u2019d pick to be a referee or linesman if they ever had that uncomfortable yet fun opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravis Konecny seems to have a lot of opinions,\u201d Bri\u00e8re said. \u201cLinesman? I\u2019d go with one of my centers because they deal with the linesmen on faceoffs, so let\u2019s go Sean Couturier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSasha (Barkov),\u201d said Florida\u2019s Bill Zito. \u201cSasha\u2019s the best at everything, and he\u2019d also be the fairest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEsa Lindell as ref,\u201d said Nill. \u201cHe\u2019s got the most even demeanor. Miro Heiskanen as linesman. He\u2019s the best skater.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPavel Buchnevich,\u201d Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. \u201cHe makes all the calls already.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d pick Zuccy (Mats Zuccarello), but he\u2019s too opinionated,\u201d said Guerin. \u201cBrodes (Jonas Brodin) is one of the best skaters in the league, so he\u2019d be the best linesman, and Spurge (Jared Spurgeon) would be the best ref because he\u2019s the most level-headed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d go Gabriel Landeskog as ref because he\u2019s got a really good feel for the temperature of games,\u201d MacFarland said, \u201cand Josh Manson as linesman because you\u2019ve got to have size to break up the scuffles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Darche picked Adam Pelech \u201cbecause he\u2019s so honest and would probably call penalties on us he\u2019s so honest\u201d and Jean-Gabriel Pageau as linesman \u201cbecause nothing rattles that guy. He\u2019d have no problem blowing a play down on a close offside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d pick Matthew Schaefer, but he\u2019s too young and already gets too much attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tulsky didn\u2019t want to pick a player: \u201cI love all my children equally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walkom said being chosen as a ref or linesman would probably be a dream for any player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t take them long to catch on,\u201d Walkom said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been reffing from the bench since they had a stick in their hands. They\u2019ve been officiating since they were like probably U10, and not doing it in an abusive way, but if you\u2019re playing hockey, you\u2019re calling offside, you\u2019re calling icing, you\u2019re calling penalties. You\u2019re officiating within the game. \u2018I got hooked. He tripped on his own. That was a high-stick.\u2019 All of that goes on every single night in every single game. These guys don\u2019t realize, but they\u2019ve been refereeing their whole life. And if you weren\u2019t reffing, the coach behind you was reffing. Or your mom was reffing, or your dad was reffing, or whoever. At home, your sisters and brothers were reffing when they said it was offside on the goal or whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it would be fun. But I can\u2019t see it happening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MANALAPAN, Fla. \u2014 You know it\u2019s an obscure rule when Colin Campbell, the head of the NHL\u2019s hockey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[29,144,147,201,57,5,38,231,576,151,159,5185,5184,4,56,273,84,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-513018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","9":"tag-colorado-avalanche","10":"tag-dallas-stars","11":"tag-devils","12":"tag-florida-panthers","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-minnesota-wild","15":"tag-nashville-predators","16":"tag-new-jersey","17":"tag-new-jersey-devils","18":"tag-new-york-islanders","19":"tag-newjersey","20":"tag-newjerseydevils","21":"tag-nhl","22":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","23":"tag-sports-business","24":"tag-st-louis-blues","25":"tag-winnipeg-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116261161722160056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}