RIP The Big Whistle Bill Chadwick

October 24, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

In sad news, former Ranger color commentator Bill Chadwick passed away at the age of 94. Nicknamed The Big Whistle after becoming the first ever U.S. born official in league history, Chadwick reffed for 16 seasons spanning 1939-55. Amazingly, he became one of the game’s top officials despite being blind in one eye. It was because of his hand system that refs followed in his footsteps, using hand signals to call penalties, etc.

“Bill Chadwick had the confidence and the creativity to introduce hand signals to officiating,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said while paying homage. “He had the courage to make the tough calls. His honesty and integrity brought him to the very top of his profession.“

A former baseball player who even competed against Phil Rizzuto, Chadwick chose hockey while growing up at Baisley Park and Goose Pond in Queens while also skating at the Brooklyn Ice Palace. It was in 1935 that he lost sight in his right eye when it was struck by an errant puck when he came onto the ice versus Boston. Unfortunately, doctors at Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital weren’t able to restore his vision. However, that didn’t stop him from continuing to play for the New York Rovers in the Eastern Hockey League until 1936-37 when another puck hit his left eye. By then, he knew his playing days were done, making the transition to officiating.

“Nobody loved the game more than I did, but I couldn’t take the chance of losing the other eye as well,” Chadwick recalled in his autobiography, “The Big Whistle” — written with ex AP writer Hal Bock.

Following a successful career as a ref, he got an opportunity to broadcast Ranger games thanks to longtime pal Emile Francis, who was GM and coach of some good Blueshirt teams. It allowed The Big Whistle to stay on Broadway for 14 years, first working with Marv Albert on the radio before finishing the final nine on TV with play-by-play legend Jim Gordon.

“Bill was a natural for broadcasting even though he wasn’t formally trained in it,” Francis said. “He and Jim Gordon got more mail than some of our players. For a native New Yorker to do what he did in hockey at that time was really unbelievable.“

It was in 1969 that Chadwick got the nickname which stuck the rest of his life. Given to him by longtime Ranger statistician Arthur Friedman, he along with plenty of fans took to it creating a cult following.

“That nickname made me a celebrity,” Chadwick later remembered.

The Big Whistle was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1964, becoming just the fifth official and fittingly the first American-born to be honored. He worked over 900 regular season games along with a record 42 Stanley Cup Finals games with a lucky 13 being deciders. For his hard work, he also made the U.S. Hockey HOF in 1974 and won the prestigious Lester Patrick Award a year later for outstanding service and dedication to hockey.

Chadwick was preceded in death by wife Millie. He’s survived by son Bill, five grandchildren and close friend Joan Langemyr.

RIP Bill “The Big Whistle” Chadwick (1915 – 2009)