Furlatt 1500

The first 15 or 20 seconds of Game 2 of the 2003 Western Conference Quarterfinals are still a blur to Eric Furlatt. The game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim was being played at Joe Louis Arena during a series that ended in a four-game sweep for Anaheim.

For most of those Red Wings, the Stanley Cup Playoffs were an old hat. Detroit was the reigning Stanley Cup champions and made the postseason each of the previous 12 seasons.

For Furlatt, it was not. It was his first NHL playoff game.

"Everybody had their white towels," he said. "It was kind of like, 'Oh boy, here we go. This is the playoffs.' The atmosphere when we dropped the puck and they were going 100 miles an hour, it was eye-opening for sure."

Twenty-four years after Furlatt officiated his first regular season NHL game in Columbus on Oct. 8, 2001, he officiated his 1,500th when the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime at Bell Centre on Jan. 6. He wasn't the only referee to reach the milestone this season. Chris Rooney got to No. 1,500 on Saturday and was celebrated in Boston on Jan. 7. His NHL career began when the Tampa Bay Lightning won 8-2 against the Atlanta Thrashers at Ice Palace, which is now Amalie Arena, on Nov. 22, 2000.

For Furlatt, it was just another game.

For his family, it was something else.

"They are the ones that are left behind," Furlatt said from Salt Lake City before the Utah Hockey Club's 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at Delta Center on Friday. "I'm under the spotlight that night, but 1,500 games has been achieved by me, my wife and the kids. I'm always away. My wife is holding the fort."

Only 10 referees had worked 1,500 games in the League.

"It's a pretty select group," Furlatt said. "The names on that list, it's quite amazing."

Furlatt began his officiating career after realizing at 14 or 15 that being a hockey player wasn't going to work out. He attended a game officiated by his older brother, Dave Jr., and was intrigued.

He rose quickly.

That October night, when he took the ice to officiate the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, he didn't think the rest of the crew knew it was his first, so he didn't tell them.

But as the national anthem played, he looked up at the flag.

"I realized that, OK, I made it," he said. "This is my first one and hopefully it won't be the last one. That's when it really hit me, just before the game."

It was a highlight in a career that has had so many others, including the 2021 Stanley Cup Final between the Canadiens and the Lightning, and one that has had its sacrifices, most notably being away from his family, his wife, France, and daughters Gabrielle and Justine.

He was on the ice for Sidney Crosby's first goal. He saw Crosby and Alex Ovechkin score competing hat tricks in the playoffs. He had a front-row seat to the brawl between the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of the 2012 NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in Philadelphia on April 15, 2012.

"There was so much to write about, it took me more than two hours just to [write] the game report," Furlatt said.

With the day-to-day demands of the job, Furlatt was unaware of the impending milestone until he was asked when and with whom he'd like to achieve it. Referees are allowed to choose their game assignment for the day, as well as the members of their crew.

"I didn't even realize it was 1,500, but I can tell you every morning I get up, I know it's 1,500," Furlatt said, laughing. "To me, that's a big number. I never expected to be up to 1,500. Maybe 1,000, I would have been more than happy with that. Fifteen hundred, that's the cherry on top of the cake."