Mickey Ion

Frederick James Mickey Ion (25 February 1886 to 26 October 1964) was a Canadian professional lacrosse player who became one of the first great referees of ice hockey. He played cover point and defence for the Toronto Tecumsehs in 1909, then signed in 1911 with the Vancouver Lacrosse Club, run by Lester and Frank Patrick, who hired several of their lacrosse players to referee when they founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. Ion quickly became the league's chief referee and was known as an iron man who could work four or five games in a week across western Canada. He moved to the Western Canada Hockey League in 1924 and to the National Hockey League in 1926, serving as its referee-in-chief until 1942. He also began the practice of naming a season-ending all-star team, first done in 1913-14. In 1961 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, one of the first three referees honoured.