As I stood watching the chaos of an ugly line brawl, feverishly writing down numbers and trying to put out fires left by my linesmen, it finally became crystal clear to me why it's said that a good set of linesmen can make a referee's job much easier.

Awareness pays

It's been said many times that a referee should have eyes in the back of his head. In hockey, he does, and they're called linesmen. A linesman who is aware of his surroundings, aware of the play, and aware of the players on the ice is a great asset to an officiating team. The job of linesman consists of much more than skating between the blue lines, calling icing, offside, and offside pass infractions. A good linesman becomes the "eyes" in the back of a referee's head.

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