The Nashville hockey community is mourning the death of Mike O’Neil, a longtime off-ice official for the Nashville Predators and veteran referee of the Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey (GNASH) league.
O’Neil, who died of cancer on June 2 at age 57, was a USA Hockey official in the Nashville area for more than 25 years.
“He was in an integral part of a very tight-knit hockey community here in Nashville,” said Kevin Hagan, president of GNASH and a friend of O’Neil’s. “The length of time he was involved with hockey families here, it’s a multi-generational loss.”
Born on July 10, 1966, O’Neil grew up in Lake Placid, New York, the second of 10 children. He attended Clemson University and eventually moved to Nashville in the late 1990s, right around the time the Predators debuted in the NHL.
O’Neil learned how to skate at an early age under the guidance of his mother, Julie, a professional figure skater. He took up hockey, and the sport became a driving influence in his life.
“It’s something in our family, we just love being on the ice,” Mike’s brother Scott said.
The O’Neil family often would play hockey together, including father Bill, who played until he was 80. They would enter — and win — numerous tournaments in the Nashville area.
“Our starting five, we would have five O’Neils on the ice,” Scott said.
When he arrived in Nashville, Mike became a USA Hockey referee, officiating high school, college, club and recreation league games. He also officiated scrimmages at the Predators’ training camps and became an off-ice official for the team, helping oversee games from the press box at Bridgestone Arena.
As an official, O’Neil was described by Hagan as “the kind of referee you wanted calling your son’s games” because of his fairness and situational awareness on the ice. He also rarely spent time away from the rink.
“If he wasn’t reffing one of your games, or one of your children’s games, he was probably playing against you in men’s league,” Hagan said.
Diagnosed with cancer in 2020, O’Neil did not want to give up officiating on account of the disease.
“He officiated through his whole cancer treatment,” Hagan said. “He was even scheduled to officiate games as recently as last week.”
To honor O’Neil, GNASH named the high school all-star hockey game trophy after him.
“This one hits hard for everybody in the hockey community. Everyone is mourning this,” Hagan said.
O’Neil is survived by his wife of 30 years, Debi, and four children: Cameron, Briana, Shelby and…
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