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Apr 5, 2025 | News, NHL, Retirement
Linesman Derek Nansen will drop the puck on his final National Hockey League game today in Ottawa as the Senators host the Florida Panthers.
The Ottawa native, who wears #70, will take the ice one last time alongside a hand-picked crew of fellow linesman Brad Kovachik (#71) and referees Pierre Lambert (#25) and Jake Brenk (#26).
“Bodywise, I feel like I could still go on, but in my head, I know it’s getting close to that time for me to move on and open up some space for some of the new guys coming in,” Nansen told the Ottawa Citizen. “I’m happy with my career. It has been a fun 23 years. I have no regrets or anything like that. It’s time to move on. That’s probably the best way for me to sum it up.”
Nansen, 53, will wrap up his 23-year NHL career with 1467 regular season games along with 65 playoff appearances.
He made his NHL debut in 2002, working a game between the Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals alongside refs Don Koharski and Scott Zelkin and linesman Pat Dapuzzo. His first playoff match came four seasons later, working Penguins vs. Senators in the opening round of the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs; fittingly, the game was in Ottawa.
Nansen worked eight seasons on the lines in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), also representing Hockey Canada at the IIHF 2001 World Championship and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. After relocating to the Toronto area, he picked up more OHL games – including a trip to the 2022 CHL Memoral Cup – as well as assignments in the American Hockey League that saw him work the Calder Cup Final. He was hired by the NHL the following season.
As with all retiring officials, Nansen will not work the postseason. This is it for him.
“It’s been a great ride, met a lot of good people, worked with a lot great guys, past and present, guys like [Bill] McCreary and [Don] Koharski, those are just people I will never forget.”
Congratulations to linesman Derek Nansen on a terrific National Hockey League career. All the best in retirement.
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