Career
McCreary refereed his first National Hockey League game in 1984 at Capital Centre in Landover, Doctor of Medicine, then home of the Washington Capitals. On February 16, 2008, McCreary refereed his 1,500th National Hockey League game in a match between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. McCreary has been wearing uniform number 7 since the 1994-1995 National Hockey League season and has been wearing a helmet for most of his refereeing career.
McCreary has a pregame ritual in which he flips the puck in the air before dropping it for the opening faceoff.
During the 2004-2005 National Hockey League lockout, McCreary worked building kitchen cabinets to make ends meet. On December 22, 2009, McCreary officiated when Martin Brodeur broke Terry Sawchuk"s career shutout record with his 104th shutout.
Although he had previously announced that he would retire as an National Hockey League referee at the end of the 2009-2010 National Hockey League season, he returned for the 2010-2011 National Hockey League season. McCreary officiated his last National Hockey League game on April 2, 2011 in Washington, District of Columbia In total, he also officiated 1,700 regular season games, 282 playoff games, and one All-Star game.
On June 23, 2014, the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee announced that McCreary would be enshrined in the Hall of Fame with the 2014 class of inductees.
