Linesman Lonnie Cameron is working his final NHL game today as the San Jose Sharks visit the Vancouver Canucks.  He’ll take the ice alongside fellow linesman Kiel Murchison and referees Graham Skilliter and Kyle Rehman.

 

 

Cameron made his NHL debut on October 5, 1996, working a game between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks alongside referee Paul Stewart and linesman Brad Lazarowich.  The game featured Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny skating for Vancouver, while the Flames featured Theo Fleury, Jerome Iginla, and goaltender Trevor Kidd.

The Victoria native’s 1,614-game career included 1,554 regular season games and 60 playoff games. Cameron also officiated the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer (1994) and Sochi (2014).

 

 

From the NHLOA:

Cameron who wears uniform number #74, was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He grew up in Colwood, BC only a few blocks away from the local rink where he spent most of his weekends playing hockey. The former goaltender played minor hockey with Joe Reekie and Dan Woodley, both former NHL players. He began officiating at the age of 12 and also played hockey until the age of 20 where he played Juniors in the Canadian prairies. His last two seasons as a player were with the Estevan Bruins of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) from 1982 to 1984.

After his Juniors days were over, Cameron moved back home to start university and his desire to stay involved with the game of hockey made him pick up the whistle again and he started officiating games at his local association in Victoria, BC. His feel for the game and his outstanding communication skills got him to climb the levels at a furious pace. He was hired by the Western Hockey League (WHL) at age of 23, a league where he would end up spending a total of 9 seasons. During his time with the WHL, Cameron accumulated an impressive resume. In fact, he was selected to work 2 Memorial Cup championships (1992 Seattle & 1995 Kamloops) and worked the final game in both of these tournaments. He also spent 12 days in China in 1991 when was selected to work the 1991 Asia/Ocenia Jr Championship in Jilin, China. To top it off, Cameron was assigned to work the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. In his last season (1995-1996) with the WHL Lonnie received the Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy, an award given to the WHL Top Official after each season and which is voted by the coaches and general managers of the WHL.

Cameron was hired by the National Hockey League in the summer of 1996 under a NHL linesman contract. He skated in his first NHL Regular Season Game on October 5th, 1996 close to home in Vancouver, BC at the General Motors Place when the Calgary Flames were in town to play the Canucks. In 2007, he skated in the NHL All-Star Game in Dallas, TX with referees Greg Kimmerly and Mike Leggo while his partner on the lines was Jay Sharrers. Then in 2014, twenty years after skating at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Cameron made it again to the Olympics this time working the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

Congratulations to Lonnie Cameron on a terrific career in stripes.

Don’t stop believin’, Lonzo!