Bill McCreary on Hall of Fame, 'rise to the top'

Longtime NHL referee Bill McCreary joined NHL Live to discuss a distinguished career that earned him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

McCreary will be the 16th on-ice official to enter the Hall when he's enshrined on Nov. 17. He worked 1,700 regular-season and 282 playoff games, and was the referee in the gold-medal games at the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"It's very exciting and I'm very honored," McCreary said. "Honestly it never entered my mind. Yes, I was around almost three decades, but that's just, I guess, luck. I never had serious injuries, so it allowed me to stay on the ice longer, and of course the two-referee system helped me stay on the ice longer.

"The Hockey Hall of Fame was never a goal. My goal was to work the playoffs and once you get in the playoffs, you just want to try and rise to the top and I was lucky enough to get to the top."