Veteran NHL Linesman Ryan Galloway retired this past season after more than two decades working games in hockey’s best league – and writer Ken Campbell profiled Galloway after his final time wearing the stripes.

Ryan Galloway

Ryan Galloway

James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports

Longtime NHL linesman Ryan Galloway hung up his officials’ skates this past season – and in this excerpt from THN’s 2024 Champions Issue, writer Ken Campbell wrote about Galloway’s journey from his Winnipeg home to hockey’s best league.

THE FINAL WHISTLE

By Ken Campbell

When the original Winnipeg Jets left Manitoba for the desert back in 1996, Ryan Galloway lamented the loss of the team along with all the other good folks who live in Winnipeg. Little did he know at the time, though, that the Jets’ departure would set into motion a series of dominos that would ultimately lead him to an officiating job in the best league in the world.

Galloway was a 23-year-old massage therapist and aspiring official who was working junior games in Brandon and high-level games in Winnipeg. When the Jets flew off to Arizona, they were replaced by the Manitoba Moose, who had moved from Minnesota in the defunct International League. The IHL was seeking local officials for Moose games, and Galloway got on the roster. Then, when the IHL folded, and six of its teams joined the AHL in 2001, he was hired by the league. That led to the NHL hiring him as a trainee, Galloway subsequently working his first NHL game as a linesman at 30 and a career that would last 21 seasons.

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“Without (the Jets leaving), I probably would have been one of the many officials to fall through the cracks,” Galloway said. “I was probably the only person here who was happy the Jets 1.0 left, because it opened up a bunch of opportunities for me.”

Twenty-eight years and more than 1,000 games later, Galloway worked his last NHL game on April 1 when the Jets hosted the Los Angeles Kings. As the players from both teams lined up to shake his hand and wish him the best after the game, Galloway reflected on his good fortune and the fact that there are so many good people in hockey. And he was fortunate to be able to work his last game on his terms, because the two other officials who retired after the 2023-24 season, referees Kevin Pollock and Justin St-Pierre, didn’t get that luxury.

Pollock was due to retire at the end of this season but was forced to the sidelines with a knee injury after a collision with Jordan Greenway of the Buffalo Sabres in February. That ended a career of more than 1,600 games and two Stanley Cup finals. St-Pierre was injured all of this season before retiring, completing a career that spanned almost 1,200 regular-season games. Their exits will leave room for three younger officials to move up the ranks just the way the outgoing trio did. And if the newcomers have the good fortune of having careers as long as Galloway, Pollock and St-Pierre did, they will have done well for themselves.

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For Galloway, it was a matter of better late than never. He was hired by the league at 30, which is a few years older than most NHL hires. The good thing about being an on-ice official, though, is those who stay in good physical condition can work well into their 40s and early 50s. At 51, Galloway was beginning to feel the years, and all the travel was taking a toll. “The window was definitely closing for me, and it’s not often you see someone hired at my age,” Galloway said. “The reality is it’s a young man’s game. The players are getting faster, and it hasn’t been the easiest the past couple of years trying to keep up to these guys. It’s understandable why the league has gone in a younger direction (with officials). But there’s still some opportunity with the older guys.”

This is an excerpt from Ken Campbell’s feature on former NHL linesman Ryan Galloway, which appeared in The Hockey News’ 2024 Champions’ Issue. Campbell chronicles Galloway’s evolution as an official and the challenges he faced while wearing stripes.

Adam Proteau discusses more about Galloway’s career as an NHL referee as well as the overall profession of being an NHL linesman.

To read the entire article and get exclusive access to thousands more stories from The Hockey News, subscribe to the magazine at THN.com/Free. All subscriptions include full access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.