Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened during the Canucks' 4-3 overtime win against the Islanders on Saturday had very little to do with the action on the ice. Among the relatively sparse crowd at Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, NY, was a crowd of fans all dressed up as referees. The image of them all together was a captivating sea of black and white shirts.
🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓🦓 😳 pic.twitter.com/jN6mXrXBv3
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 1, 2020
Believe it or not, these people didn't attend the game with the intention of mocking the on-ice officiating team -- like New Orleans Saints fans did during their home opener in September. This form of imitation had the intention of flattery. The broadcasters of SN in Canada noted that every time there was an offside, icing or any other call from an official that stopped action, they all cheered. They even booed when a fight broke out between players.
Two full sections of referee fans at the #Canucks #Islanders game having a hoot pic.twitter.com/VFJjXnZtQT
— Matt (@dooley_matt_) February 1, 2020
This collection of zebra-looking folks was a result of a Ref Appreciation Night that was organized by fans. According to a landing page for the event, the whole thing is centered around promoting "the pro-sportsmanship agenda worldwide," and raising some money for charity. The group links to We Can Kick It, a nonprofit charity that provides free soccer to kids and young adults affected by cancer.
The evening has been an annual tradition since 2017 when, to quote the event page, "27 brave souls put their differences aside to spread the good word. That word was "Sportsmanship" (or deportividad in Spanish)." Here's a clip of the group together from earlier this season in November.
The group claims that they had 340 people attend in 2019, and were aiming for over 600 people to attend in 2020 -- though the number of attendees for this event has yet to be confirmed.
