New Jersey Visit

NHL Officals meet Luis & Tatiana Ortiz prior to New Jersey Devils Game.

At a recent game in New Jersey, we had the pleasure of meeting a couple of young fans.

Luis and Tatiana Ortiz were the guests of the New Jersey Devils and the NHLOA. The Boys & Girls Club of Newark were able to make arrangements for them to attend the game.

Part of their tour including stopping by the official's room to say hello to us. We had the opportunity to meet Luis and Tatiana and their chaperone for the night, Ameer Washington, before the game. They had all kinds of questions about our job, Luis was real interested in how the linesman separate the fights!

We were able to present them both with authentic NHL jerseys, which at first they were apprehensive about wearing. But, after posing for a couple of pictures and seeing us put on our jerseys, they felt like part of our team and wore them with pride.

When the game started it wasn't hard to find Tatiana and Luis, they were the only ones in the building wearing the black and white stripes. I looked up at the big screen at a TV time-out and saw Luis and Tatiana dancing along with the music.

We were able to toss up a couple of game used pucks at the end of each period, they were definitely the envy of all the kids in their section! It looked like they had a great time and it was our pleasure getting to meet them, along with Ameer.

Hopefully we helped make some new fans of the game. Thanks Ameer, Tatiana and Luis for putting a big smile on our faces and being part of our team.

Ian Walsh

NHL Referee