Ray Scapinello Raymond Angelo Joseph " Scampy " Scapinello ( born November 5 , 1946 ) is a former National Hockey League linesman , known for having the longest on - ice career of anyone in the history of the NHL . Early life . Ray Scapinello grew up in a small community called Glen Christie , located between Guelph and Hespeler in Ontario , Canada . Glen Christie had a population of approximately 80 and was built around a quarry . Ray is the son of Dorothy and George " Sonny " Scapinello . He has one older sister , Dianne , and one younger brother , Dougie . Scapinello played hockey growing up and earned the nickname " Scampy " due to his small stature and exceptional skating ability . Despite being a skilled skater , Scapinello never made it into professional hockey , and had stopped playing by the age of 21 . Officiating career . During the late 60 ' s Scapinello joined the Guelph Referees Association and began officiating games for them while he was working for General Electric . He was invited to the NHL rookie official ' s camp in 1970 and despite not making the cut , he was invited to officiate in the Ontario Hockey Association . Scapinello spent one year officiating in the OHA before he was again invited to the NHL rookie official ' s camp . This time he made the cut and at age 24 , was hired into the NHL in 1971 . Scapinello officiated his first NHL game on October 17 , 1971 . It took place in Buffalo between the Buffalo Sabres and the Minnesota North Stars . In the spring of 1980 , Scapinello officiated his first Stanley Cup Finals . This was one of a total of 20 he officiated during his career , including Game 7 in 1994 . In 1998 , Scapinello was chosen as one of 4 officials to participate in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , Japan . Despite being unprepared , Scapinello and the other officials managed to learn the differences in rules between olympic ice hockey and ice hockey in the NHL . One of the biggest differences for the officials proved to be the rule that required all officials to wear protective helmets while on ice , and this marked the only time in Scapinello ' s career that he wore one ( he was included under a grandfather clause in the NHL ; he retired before the clause was revoked and helmets became mandatory for all officials in the 2006 - 07 season ) . Scapinello ' s final regular season NHL game came on April 2 , 2004 , a game held in Buffalo between the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs . Scapinello chose this to be his final game as he wanted to end his career in the same place he started it . Although this was his final regular season game , he participated in the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs . Scapinello finally did retire in June 2004 after 33 seasons in the NHL as a linesman . His career includes 2 , 500 regular season games , 426 playoff games , and 20 Stanley Cup Finals . Of these feats the most impressive is that he never once missed a game due to injury or illness . After retiring , Scapinello took a part - time job as an officials supervisor in the Ontario Hockey League in Canada and the Central Hockey League in the United States . He has also instructed at summer officiating camps , including the North American School of Officiating . Ray is married to Maureen and they have one child , Ryan . On June 17 , 2008 , it was announced that Scapinello would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as an on - ice official .