NHL Linesman Dan Schachte will be inducted into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame in June.
Schachte manned the lines for 2,009 regular season games and 221 playoff matches during his 30-year NHL career, which began in 1982 at the old Chicago Stadium. His tenure included five Stanley Cup Finals (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002), the 1991 Canada Cup, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City. He was the first US-born official to work more than 2,000 NHL games.
“For a snot-nosed kid from Madison who was 23 at the time, it was an amazing time,” Schachte, known as ‘Snook’ by his friends, told USA Hockey Magazine. “If someone had told me that I would not only have been hired in the league but have lasted more than a couple of years, I would have said you’re crazy. I can’t even believe it’s been 30 years. You blink and it’s gone.”
From Schachte’s final game:
Also being inducted are Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster Dr. Jae Bock Chung, soccer coach Ron Holzhueter, and ice boat builder Bill Mattison. The ceremony takes place on June 7.
Schachte joins 1980 Olympic Men’s Hockey Gold Medalist Bob Suter and retired NHL defenseman Gary Suter in the Madison Sports Hall of Fame.
