Nova Scotia-born referee officiates men’s Olympic hockey final

NHL referee Gord Dwyer is pictured.

Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand weren’t the only Nova Scotians on the ice during Sunday’s Olympic men’s hockey gold-medal game.

Referee Gord Dwyer, from Lower Sackville, N.S., donned the black and white stripes to officiate as Team Canada and Team U.S.A. faced off in Milan, Italy.

With NHL players returning to the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, the on-ice officials were a blend of referees and linespersons from the IIHF and NHL.

Dwyer was one of seven NHL refs to work the games.

He grew up playing in the Sackville Flyers Minor Hockey program and started officiating at the age of 14. His first NHL game was on Nov. 19, 2005.

No stranger to high-pressure games, Dwyer has worked more than 1,000 NHL games, including officiating three Stanley Cup Finals.

Sunday’s gold-medal game ended in heartbreak for the Canadian team, who lost 2-1 when New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into overtime.

The gold is the United States’ first in Olympic men’s hockey since the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Sidney Crosby, the third Nova Scotian on Team Canada’s roster, was sidelined by a lower-body injury he sustained in the quarterfinal win over Czechia and did not play in the final.

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