Once a pipe dream that nobody would have thought possible, the idea of a woman referee in the NHL seems to be getting closer and closer to becoming a reality. Decades ago, the mere concept of a female referee would send not only the professional players into fits of laughter, but also the fans and even other women. Times have changed, however, and so has the attitude towards female athletics and the idea of female officials in the major league. While we haven’t yet seen the first female referee in the NHL, it seems increasingly likely that we may see the glass ceiling broken in the near future, and there are many reasons to be optimistic and hockey becomes an ever more inclusive sport.

Overall Attitudes are Changing

For centuries, women have fought an uphill battle for equality in most aspects of life. While there are still many barriers to be toppled, we have seen much progress in recent history, and the trends seem to favorable moving into the future. This is especially true in the world of sports, where more and more female leagues are popping up in sports previously thought to be reserved only for men. Hockey is one such sport that’s often been lumped into the “manly” category, thanks to its physicality and fast-paced nature as well as the overall bad-boy image that it has cultivated over the years.

Today, however, girls and women alike are joining competitive hockey leagues at a record pace, and they are being accepted into the hockey culture like never before. Players in the NHL and in other male professional sports leagues don’t hold the same antiquated beliefs about sex and gender as many of their predecessors from generations past. That isn’t to say there aren’t still plenty of examples of misogynistic behavior – it’s still a problem that needs to be addressed – but it is becoming far less common as younger, more progressive generations enter the fold.

Climbing the Ranks

Because people are more likely to advocate for equality these days, we’ve seen female referees climbing the ranks throughout female hockey leagues. This may not seem like much, but these are positions that, despite being in female leagues, were usually filled by men in the past. Now, women have the chance to prove themselves in the highest levels of female competitive leagues, and that may open the door for officiating in men’s professional leagues in the future.

It also helps that other sports have experienced progress in breaking the gender barrier in the past. The NBA has had several female referees over the years, and the NFL – long seen as the most “macho” and man-centric of the big four sports, introduced its first female referee in 2015. Perhaps professional hockey leagues, the NHL specifically, will soon follow suit and allow the first female referee to take the ice in years to come. Once that happens, it could open the door for many more who dream of officiating a professional hockey game.

History

Although hockey seems to have fallen behind the NFL and NBA in this regard, things actually started to look like they were moving forward in the 1990s. In 1995, Heather McDaniel was the first female to ever officiate a men’s professional hockey game. However, it was not an NHL game. McDaniel reffed games in the Central and West Coast hockey leagues. These were professional minor leagues that to that point had only seen male referees on their ice rinks. McDaniels reffed here for 4 years before becoming pregnant and deciding to call it a career.

McDaniels’ retirement from refereeing left it looking bleak for the future of female referees, as we didn’t see a female official in a men’s professional game until 2014, when Katie Guay and Erin Blair both officiated a game in the SPHL. That 15-year gap between female referees is a long one, but it seems to have kicked off a wave that may suggest a positive trend. In the 2015-2016 season, 23 of 36 regular season NWHL games had a female referee. Yes, that is a female hockey league, but it is the largest number of female referees that has ever been seen in one season for any league. The inaugural game for that season, in fact, featured an all-female crew for the first time in the history of professional hockey.

What the future holds

While nobody can predict the future, recent trends suggest that things are looking up for the possibility of a female referee in the NHL. As we’ve mentioned, the primitive attitudes that have held women back from positions across a variety of fields are starting to become more and more outdated. There are still people that hold these views, but they seem to be getting pushed to the side in favor of progress, fairness, and equality.

The rise in popularity of female hockey leagues, as well as their increased amount of media coverage, may be another factor that contributes to an eventual female NHL official. We’ve seen that women have continually proven themselves to be not only fantastic athletes, but highly competent referees who work hard and have just as much passion for the sport as any of their male counterparts.

As more women start officiating junior leagues, women’s leagues, and professional minor leagues, we are seeing the push towards the first female referee in the NHL. Once that happens, it could open up a myriad of opportunities for other women who have dreamt of getting on the ice in a professional game. It may not happen in the immediate future, but maybe one day all of this progress will lead to us seeing the first all-female officiating crew at an NHL game.