Linesman Steve Barton was honored for reaching the 1000-game mark prior to Thursday’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings.
The teams presented him with autographed jerseys and a signed stick.
The veteran official, in his sixteenth season with the league, was joined by fellow linesman Brian Murphy and referees Wes McCauley and Kevin Pollock. Murphy, interestingly enough, was working career game number 1,800 – 1,712 as a linesman and 88 as a referee – that night.
Barton’s actual milestone game came two weeks prior, when he took the ice for a game between the Arizona Coyotes and Montreal Canadiens on October 20. That match also took place in Montreal, just 100 kilometers from Barton’s hometown of Vankleek Hill, Ontario.
Barton, 44, made his National Hockey League debut on November 1, 2000, working a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils. He worked his first Hockey Night in Canada the following month, manning the lines for a game between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs in Montreal.
Sixteen years later, being honored for this milestone, Barton once again has a night to remember in Montreal.
Congratulations to linesman Steve Barton on reaching the 1000-game mark!
