ARLINGTON, VA \u2014 The NHL rulebook is, by and large, a pretty dry document. Clocking in at 232 pages, the league spells out the minute details of the game in all their glory, from rink measurements to faceoff procedure.<\/p>\n
One often-forgotten rule, however, has recently garnered attention from around the hockey world purely for its entertainment value: player referees.<\/p>\n
Games can continue even down a referee \u2014 a somewhat common occurrence if an official gets injured \u2014 but what happens if too many officials are missing? Per NHL rule 31.11<\/a>, if the league can\u2019t find suitable alternatives, one last-ditch solution is for each team to appoint a player to don the stripes:<\/p>\n If, through misadventure or sickness, the Referees and Linespersons appointed are prevented from appearing, the League will make every attempt to find suitable replacement officials, otherwise, the Managers or Coaches of the two Clubs shall agree on Referee(s) and Linesperson(s). If they are unable to agree, they shall appoint a player from each side who shall act as Referee and Linesperson; the player of the home Club acting as Referee and the player of the visiting Club as Linesperson.<\/p>\n If the regularly appointed officials appear during the progress of the game, they shall at once replace the temporary officials.<\/p>\n The rule gained prominence after being dug up by Islanders fan Nicole Shirman last week<\/a>, surprising even NHL players.<\/p>\n Today I learned that if the officials don\u2019t show up to an NHL game for whatever reason and nobody can agree on replacements, both teams just \u2026 pick a player. The player from the home team acts as referee while the visiting player gets to be a linesman. This is an actual NHL rule<\/p>\n \u2014 Nicole Shirman (@nicolefshirman) March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNo way. That\u2019s a rule?\u201d Ethen Frank<\/a> said to RMNB. \u201cI had no idea that was a rule.\u201d<\/p>\n So, if it came down to it, who would the Capitals nominate? Just about every player had a different answer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt needs to be somebody with the courage to get yelled at for 60 minutes,\u201d Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> told RMNB. \u201cI\u2019d probably go Chuckie (Charlie Lindgren).\u201d<\/p>\n Dubois laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cChuckie would be my answer, 100%. I don\u2019t think anybody else could.\u201d<\/p>\n Dubois\u2019 answer reflected a theme around the locker room: players picked teammates they thought would call the game fairly. Frank pointed to Tom Wilson<\/a> \u2014 whose father is a referee in the Greater Toronto Hockey League \u2014 as someone who takes a fairly level-headed approach to penalties.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d probably have to say Willy,\u201d Frank said. \u201cIt probably would have been Johnny (John Carlson) when he was here, for sure. But, yeah, I think Willy would do a great job. He doesn\u2019t take any s***, and he calls a fair game.<\/p>\n \u201cEven when we take penalties during a game and guys are complaining at the refs, he\u2019s like, \u2018No, that\u2019s a penalty. You\u2019ve got to be honest with yourself.\u2019 So, yeah, Willy\u2019s probably at least the most honest about it. I\u2019m sure some guys would give us more power plays than others, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Who would be the worst at it?<\/p>\n \u201cProbably Dewey,\u201d Frank said. \u201cDewey or Leno. They think everything\u2019s a penalty. Yeah, that\u2019s probably those two. I don\u2019t include the goalies on that. Those two would probably take the cake.\u201d<\/p>\n Hendrix Lapierre<\/a> had to think on the question for a while, standing back up to survey the locker room, before he named noted heavyweight Dylan Mcllrath, citing the fear factor.<\/p>\n \u201cI would pick Mac,\u201d he decided. \u201cBecause I feel like players would have a lot of respect for him. They wouldn\u2019t mess around. And I feel like he\u2019d be pretty fair.\u201d<\/p>\n Lapierre\u2019s right about one thing: it\u2019s hard to imagine many players would start trouble with referee Dylan McIlrath<\/a>. As Lapierre gave his answer, though, Dylan Strome<\/a> piped up to disagree, starting a debate between the two.<\/p>\n Dylan Strome: Does he know all the rules though?<\/p>\n Hendrix Lapierre: Mac knows the rules, yeah. Who would you pick?<\/p>\n Dylan Strome: Me.<\/p>\n Hendrix Lapierre: What do you mean you? No chance.<\/p>\n Hendrix Lapierre: I mean, [Strome is] up there for sure, in the players that assess the game the right way. But I feel like Mac would be my number one choice.<\/p>\n Dylan Strome: Yeah, Mac is a good choice. I\u2019ll give you that. Mac\u2019s a great choice. He does know the game, and no one\u2019s going to mess with him.<\/p>\n Hendrix Lapierre: He\u2019s got respect. You think we\u2019re screaming after Mac for 60 minutes? No chance. He\u2019s going to break your neck. No chance.<\/p>\n Strome proved one of the more popular answers. He came up as Ryan Leonard<\/a> and Anthony Beauvillier<\/a> pondered the question, though Leonard also proposed Frank (for his speed) and Matt Roy<\/a> as good options.<\/p>\n Ryan Leonard: Roy\u2026Calls it clean. (To Beauvillier) who\u2019d you pick?<\/p>\n Anthony Beauvillier: Someone that has good integrity.<\/p>\n Ryan Leonard: Yeah, I know. That\u2019s what I mean. Roy.<\/p>\n Anthony Beauvillier: Roy is a good pick. I\u2019d say Stromer. Sees the ice.<\/p>\n Ryan Leonard: Stromer or Roy. Maybe Franky, fastest ref in the world.<\/p>\n While most players chose teammates they thought would call a fair game, head coach Spencer Carbery took the opposite approach. He cited Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy, who answered the same question<\/a> based on which of the team\u2019s extras would be \u201cthe most biased towards us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cOh, my gosh. I just saw that,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cOkay. I think that\u2019s such an unfair question because (Cassidy) started assessing scratches, because you couldn\u2019t use a guy in your (lineup). And then I think the \u2014 yeah, ah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t answer,\u201d piped up Capitals PR head Sergey Kocharov, eliciting a round of laughter from reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, good advice. Good advice,\u201d Carbery replied.<\/p>\n Without restricting himself to healthy scratches, however, Carbery figured Strome would find a way to help his team win.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I was just picking one player from our roster, not even considering whether they can play or not, his response of like, \u2018Who\u2019s going to be a little bit \u2014 err on our side.\u2019 I\u2019m going Dylan Strome,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019d make sure we got on the power play a few extra times.\u201d<\/p>\n Logan Thompson was the lone outlier from the two methodologies: instead of picking who would be the most (or least) fair, he picked the officials who would be most entertaining to watch.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for a linesman, probably Duhaime. And then I think for a ref, I\u2019d like to see Tom Wilson be a ref,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI think the way [Wilson] likes to give it to refs, I\u2019d like to see how he would do in that situation and see how calm he\u2019d be\u2026I\u2019d like to see [Duhaime] in a position where he can\u2019t give anyone a penalty and players can just give it to him. I think it\u2019d be a funny situation to see him in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n These days, an officiating crisis getting to the point where players would suit up feels unlikely, but it wouldn\u2019t be unprecedented. On January 16, 1983, Hartford Whalers defenseman Mickey Volcan and New Jersey Devils forward Garry Howatt briefly stepped in<\/a> after a six-inch snowstorm delayed two of the game\u2019s three officials.<\/p>\n