Junior Hockey Team Holding Referee Appreciation Night To Honor Officials And Probably Get A Lot Of Favorable Calls

Most teams will do whatever it takes to get a call to go their way. It looks like one Canadian junior hockey team is going all in to get on the referees' good side.

And more importantly to celebrate on-ice officials at all levels.

The Vancouver Giants of the WHL announced that they will be holding a Referee Appreciation Night this season.

Better yet, they've got some special sweaters for the occasion. Ones that might confuse people just a little bit.

(They thought of this, we'll get to it in a second).

That's right. The Giants will be co-opting the typically black and white stripes worn by on-ice officials. To minimize the obvious confusion that could occur given the similarities, refs and linesmen for this game will get their own special get-ups which have yet to be revealed.

Giants Honoring Referees For Two Reasons

The Giants will be cosplaying as refs on October 22 when they host the Spokane Chiefs. If I were the Chiefs I would be looking for any ounce of favoritism from the fellas in stripes (the ones who normally wear stripes in this game.)

It is cool to see on-ice officials get some thanks. They've got a tough, thankless job to do. Every decision you make is bound to get some people mad at you. That's not exactly fun.

Giants vice president Pete Toigo said that is one of the reasons they're holding the special event. The other is to make sure that the next generation of officials gets involved.

“Our goal with this game is twofold: first, to acknowledge the hard work that on-ice officials do to ensure the game is safe and fair, and second, to shine a spotlight on officiating at the grassroots level here in B.C.,” said Pete Toigo, Giants VP, Operations.

“Hockey can’t be played without officials. By hosting this game, we want to encourage youth to get involved in officiating and also show support for officials at all levels, who deserve more respect.”

Great stuff from the Giants.

And if an extra call or two goes their way, it's probably deserved.

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