National Hockey League linesman Ryan Galloway will officiate his final NHL game on Monday night when the Winnipeg Jets host the Los Angeles Kings.
He’ll wrap up his NHL career working the game alongside linesman Trent Knorr and referees Dan O’Rourke and Trevor Hanson.
“It’s going to be beyond emotional,” Galloway told Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press. “This has been a passion for 40 years. Something I started when I was 12 (doing minor hockey games in St. James). Knowing that’s the last time I’m going to be out there doing that, having people there celebrating with me and being able to share that with them… I think that last step off the ice is going to be a very slow step. It’s going to be a very special night, for sure.”
Galloway made his NHL debut on October 17, 2002, skating with refs Don Koharski and Ian Walsh, and linesman Stephane Provost. He’s gone on to officiate 1408 regular season games and 23 playoff matches.
The Manitoba native spoke with Winnipeg radio play-by-play host Paul Edmonds about his career and his upcoming finale:
From the NHLOA:
The native of Winnipeg, Manitoba started officiating at the early age of 12 in the St. James district of Winnipeg. He fell in love with the profession quickly and decided then to make it a dream of his to be an NHL official one day. He would go on and work every level of Hockey Manitoba.
The spring of 1996 saw the original Winnipeg Jets being relocated to Phoenix, AZ creating a big commotion among the hockey community in Winnipeg. That same summer, a group of Canadian Businessmen from Winnipeg bought an International Hockey League (IHL) team from St.Paul Minnesota named the Minnesota Moose and relocated the team in Winnipeg in order to fill the void left by the Jets moving to the Arizona’s desert. When the IHL looked at the top prospect linesmen in the Winnipeg area back then to work the new Manitoba Moose team’s home games, Galloway’s name was at the top of the list and he was hired by the IHL. He worked the top levels of hockey in Manitoba, including the Juniors with a few games a month in the IHL until the 2000 season where the IHL merged with the American Hockey League.
His hard work and dedication to the game were rewarded in the summer of 2002 at the age of 30 when the National Hockey League offered him a minor league linesman contract. He would go on and work a full year between the AHL and the NHL as a minor league contracted official before getting promoted to a full-time NHL linesman status the following summer. Galloway was part of the officiating crew on October 9th, 2011 that worked the first home game of the newly relocated Winnipeg Jets. The officiating crew that night was composed of the three Winnipeg native officials on the NHL officiating team at the time; referee Rob Martell and linesmen Ryan Galloway and Vaughan Rody. Referee Brad Meier from Saskatoon completed the crew that night.
Congratulations to linesman Ryan Galloway on an amazing career. All the best in retirement!
Read more on Galloway in McIntyre’s full article in the Winnipeg Free Press:
Local linesman Galloway calling it a career after more than two decades in NHL
