Andy Van Hellemond

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Andy Van Hellemond (born February 16, 1948, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) is a former National Hockey League referee and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1999.

His NHL officiating career began in 1969 and included 19 Stanley Cup Finals. In 1984, he became the first NHL on-ice official to wear a helmet. Subsequently, several officials followed his lead and beginning with the 2006–07 NHL season, all NHL on-ice officials must wear helmets.

Van Hellemond was involved in a rare case of a bad call by a referee resulting in a fine. During a game on May 14, 1995, Van Hellemond waved off a goal scored by Joe Sakic of the Quebec Nordiques, calling the play dead due to an apparent injury to New York's Alexei Kovalev. Kovalev was, in fact, not injured, and the puck had also entered the net before Van Hellemond's whistle sounded. The Rangers eventually won the game in overtime to take a 3–1 series lead and won the series in six games. Van Hellemond was fined by the NHL, who cited a "glaring error in judgment," according to the November 20, 2007 issue of The Hockey News.

After retiring in 1996, Van Hellemond went to the East Coast Hockey League, where he held a management position there until being hired by the NHL in 2000 to replace Bryan Lewis as Director of Officiating. Van Hellemond remained director of officiating until July 2004 when he resigned following misconduct allegations. Media reports indicated he was accused of approaching members of his officiating staff for personal financial loans to pay gambling debts.^[1]