Matt Pavelich, first linesman in Hall of Fame, dies at 92
Pavelich worked 19 consecutive Stanley Cup Finals from 1961 to 1979 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
Matt Pavelich, the first linesman elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, died Friday at age 92. His son, Mark, announced it on social media and said his father was "surrounded by the people who loved him" at the end.
Pavelich was born March 12, 1934, in Parkhill, Ontario, and was inducted in 1987, the year the Referee/Linespersons category expanded to include linesmen. He worked 23 NHL seasons: 1,727 regular-season games as a linesman, 14 as a referee, and 245 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He worked the 1957 and 1958 Finals, then 19 straight from 1961 to 1979, 56 Final games in all.
His last game was Game 5 of the 1979 Final on May 21, a 4-1 Montreal win over the New York Rangers. It was also the last game for Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden, and the two had an agreement over the puck. Dryden handed it to the veteran linesman, with the understanding that whoever outlived the other would keep it. Dryden died Sept. 5, 2025, so Pavelich kept it.
At the Class of 2018 celebrations, Pavelich said he still had it. "I hid it because my wife throws things out all the time. It's not on display, it's hidden away," he said.
His older brother, Marty, played for the Detroit Red Wings from 1947 to 1957. Matt made his NHL debut Oct. 11, 1956, after an AHL season that impressed then referee-in-chief Carl Voss. He worked four Finals involving Detroit, in 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1966, and the Red Wings lost all four. After he stopped working games, he became an NHL supervisor of officials.
His son wrote on Facebook that "to us, he was simply Dad," and recalled lessons his father passed on: "respect is earned," you call it the way you see it, and you never back down from doing the right thing.
