Mick McGeough Passes

Published: November 25, 2018 04:52 pm EST

Longtime National Hockey League referee and Standardbred racehorse owner Mick McGeough passed away on Friday, November 23 after having been removed from life support. He was 62.

McGeough, of Regina, Saskatchewan, had suffered a stroke on Sunday, November 18.

On 11:23 p.m. on Friday, Mick’s son, Luke, tweeted, “We peacefully said goodbye to Mick McGeough.”

In a statement from the NHL, commissioner Gary Bettman said the globe’s top hockey league “lost a true friend of the game.”

The statement goes on to say, “Mick’s passion for the game shone through on a nightly basis,” Bettman said in a statement released by the league.

“He earned and maintained respect from players, coaches, general managers and his peers throughout his career with a unique style that combined humility and humour with decisiveness and fairness.

“The NHL family extends its deepest sympathies to his wife Angie and his five children — Jared, Luke, Kara, Karlie and Isaac.”

Kevin Muench, the senior director of officiating with the WHL, also weighed in on McGeough’s passing, stating that, “there will never be another Mick McGeough,” and that he was “one of a kind, on the ice and off the ice.

“Mick was an entertainer. He was like the Eddie Shack of officials. He was energized and flamboyant on the ice, and a great story-teller off the ice.

“Wherever you saw Mick, he was the centre of attention. Whether it was lunch at training camp or out for a beer after playing ball or golf, everybody wanted to sit at Mick’s table. You were guaranteed to hear some great stories.”

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Mick McGeough.

(With files from canoe.com)

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