birth_place article_title birth_date occupation
winnipeg , mb , can andy van hellemond
 16 february 1948 former nhl referee
andy van hellemond

andy van hellemond -lrb- born february 16 , 1948 -rrb- is a former national hockey league referee and a member of the hockey hall of fame since 1999 .
his nhl officiating career began in 1969 and included 20 stanley cup finals .
in 1984 , he became the first nhl on-ice official to wear a helmet .
subsequently , several officials followed his lead and beginning with the 2006 -- 07 nhl season , all nhl on-ice officials were compelled to wear helmets .
he also officiated 1,557 regular season games and 227 playoff games .
van hellemond has been the nhl 's # 1 referee 14 consecutive times .
he also officiated in two all-star games , the 1979 challenge cup , and rendez-vous ' 87 .
from the 1994 -- 95 nhl season until his retirement in 1997 , van hellemond wore uniform number 25 , which is now worn by marc joannette .
prior to the 1994-95 season , nhl officials ' uniform shirts displayed their last names on the back .
after retiring , van hellemond went to the east coast hockey league , where he held a management position there until being hired by the nhl in 2000 to replace bryan lewis as director of officiating .
van hellemond remained director of officiating until july 2004 when he resigned to pursue other interests .
on september 3 , 2010 van hellemond declared he would run for ward two city councillor during the october 25 , 2010 guelph municipal election in the city of guelph , ontario .
on october 25 , 2010 van hellemond was elected to ward two , winning with 29.86 % of the vote over both incumbents .
on july 1 , 2011 it was reported van hellemond served the creators of the comic strip `` adam@home '' with a notice of intention to sue for libel over a comic which used the word `` evil '' in referring to van hellemond as `` the worst and most evil ref ever . ''
newspapers carrying the strip on may 28 , 2011 were also served , such as the `` toronto star '' and `` the boston globe '' .
in 2014 van hellemond was elected for a second term as city councillor for ward 2 , in the guelph municipal election .
