Mickey Ion

Who was Mickey Ion?

Frederick James Ion was a Canadian professional lacrosse player and ice hockey referee. He was referee-in-chief of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and later the referee-in-chief of the National Hockey League. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A professional lacrosse player with the Toronto Tecumsehs in 1909, Ion signed with the Vancouver Lacrosse Club team in 1911. The team was run by hockey entrepreneurs Lester Patrick and Frank Patrick, and when they started the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in 1911, they hired several of their lacrosse players—Ion among them—to referee the league's games.

Ion quickly became the league's chief referee. Among his innovations was the first known season-ending All-Star team, the naming of which was a regular practice of his from then on and which received much publicity each year. His first such selection, in the 1913–14 PCHA season, had Hugh Lehman of New Westminster in goal, Ernie Johnson of New Westminster and Frank Patrick of Vancouver on defence, Cyclone Taylor of Vancouver as the rover, and Tom Dunderdale of Victoria, Eddie Oatman of New Westminster and Dubbie Kerr of Victoria at forward.