CUTCHOGUE, N.Y. (AP) -Bill “The Big Whistle” Chadwick, the first U.S.-born official in NHL history who was later a television analyst for the New York Rangers, died Saturday. He was 94.
His death was announced by son Bill and confirmed by John Halligan, a family friend and hockey historian. Chadwick had been in declining health for a number of years and died while in hospice care.
For 16 seasons, from 1939 to 1955, and despite being blind in one eye, Chadwick was one of the best officials the NHL. He invented and perfected the system of hand signals to signify penalties, and the system is now used throughout the world.
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