John D'Amico

Who was John D'Amico?

John David D'Amico was a National Hockey League linesman and later supervisor of officials.

A native of Toronto, D'Amico's NHL career started as a referee on October 12, 1964, when he was 27 years old. He refereed only 19 games before becoming a linesman.

At the time of his retirement after the 1987 season, D'Amico was the last on-ice official active during the Original Six era. D'Amico's career included 1,769 regular season games, four All-Star games, including the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-vous '87, and 247 Stanley Cup playoff games, including 20 Stanley Cup Finals. His last one was in 1987. He also worked the Canada Cup. In 1988, D'Amico was watching a Leafs game on TV at home when a linesman had to leave a game because of an injury. Not missing a beat, D'Amico grabbed his skates, drove to Maple Leaf Gardens and finished the game. This would become his last on-ice performance as an NHL linesman.

After retirement, he became a supervisor of officials for the NHL, a position he held until his death at age 67 after a long battle with leukemia and bone cancer.

D'Amico was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.