From the NHL to ESPN to Highlands Ranch

Former NHL referee Dave Jackson splits time between the golf course and the broadcast booth

By Mike Chambers

HIGHLANDS RANCH – Hockey and golf run rich in Dave Jackson’s circles, and the former longtime NHL referee who now serves as ESPN’s NHL rules analyst believes there is a burgeoning golfer in every young hockey player.

The seasons align in traditional hockey climates and, whether it’s a slap shot from the point or a drive off the tee, “the swing is not dissimilar,” he said during a recent interview.

Jackson’s youngest son and prodigy/protégé is an example of making excellent contact with the puck or ball.

Ryan Jackson, who is in his first season as a full-time NHL linesman, teamed up with his father and used 300-yard-plus drives and a 220-yard 7-iron at “El Borracho” – the July tournament held annually at the Sanctuary Golf Course near Castle Pines. The two-man, best-ball tournament hosted by course owner Dave Liniger (and named after his late dog) had 50 entries.

Dave and Ryan Jackson won their flight and finished third.

“Pretty good for a 9 (Dave) and 15 (Ryan) handicap,” Dave said.

Dave Jackson is very familiar with Sanctuary and many other Colorado courses since moving from Montreal to Highlands Ranch in 2014. He lists the Golf Club at Bear Dance among his favorites, as well as Perry Park Country Club, where he used to belong.

His all-time Colorado low round of 76 came at Lone Tree Golf Club.

Dave and his wife Jill, a Los Angeles native who met her future husband while working game-day operations for the Los Angeles Kings, moved to Highlands Ranch when Dave’s two Montreal-based sons went to college. They chose Colorado because it was a convenient landing spot between Montreal and L.A.

“There was no learning curve for me. Colorado is such a beautiful place,” Dave said. “I immediately loved it.”

The lifestyle for an NHL on-ice official almost always includes a lot of golf.

Rookie Ryan Jackson, 30, might have only played 15 rounds this summer, his father said, but that’s bound to dramatically increase over his NHL officiating career.

“Pretty much everybody I’ve refereed with played golf, and there’s some pretty good golfers, too, starting with Garrett Rank.”

Rank played hockey and golf at the University of Waterloo and has competed in the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open since beginning his NHL officiating career in 2015.

“We have a bunch of guys with single-digit handicaps,” Jackson said of NHL officials.

Ryan is bound to get there. He’s now living the life his father enjoyed for 28 years.

“Other than him being a linesman, not a ref, everything else is pretty much identical,” Dave said of Ryan’s big-league career. “He’s experiencing the same travel schedule, same buildings, same off-ice people in every city, and he’s working with a lot of my former co-workers. There’s probably still 50 guys on that staff that I worked with. I took some of the younger ones under my wing and they’re now doing the same and paying it forward by looking after Ryan.”

Jackson’s two other children, oldest son Shayne, 32, and daughter Maddie, 19, also play a lot of golf. Shayne, a 4 handicap, lives in Seattle and is a player-agent for current and future NHL players. He often plays golf with his clients and others in the industry. Maddie, a sophomore at the University of Arizona, played varsity golf at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch.

As empty-nesters, Dave and Jill Jackson bought a winter home in Tucson, Ariz., a year ago. That means more golf for Dave, who set up his ESPN studio in his new home office.

Jackson, 60, was contacted by ESPN early in the 2021-22 NHL season when the network chose to add a rules analyst. Upon accepting the unique job – currently the only position of its kind in big-league hockey – he knew social media came with it.

“Sometimes it’s tough,” Jackson said of publicly engaging with fans, which was taboo during his officiating career. “I’ll respond to anyone as long as it’s a good-faith question, if somebody wants to know a rule. I love a healthy debate. But you get the occasional guy who will just call me names or get personal. Those people get blocked. But for the most part it’s overwhelmingly positive. People genuinely want answers and they really appreciate the view, the opinion from the inside, because it’s not something they’ve ever had in the past. And I enjoy trying to broaden the fans’ perspective and give them a different perspective of the game – something they’re not used to hearing.”

Still, fans often want Jackson to criticize his former brethren. But his response typically serves both sides of the argument.

“Nothing says my judgement is better than their judgement,” Jackson said of active NHL officials. “The only difference is I get to watch it from three or four different replay angles. So opposed to criticizing them, I’ll say something along the lines of, ‘I didn’t love that call and I think referee X, if he was watching the same angles I’m watching right now, he would probably agree.’”

Jackson returned to the ice in August by working the Avalanche-University of Denver alumni game at Magness Arena. The weekend affair also included a round of golf at DU’s course in Highlands Ranch. He golfed with Julie Rathke, director of the Avs’ alumni, and Avalanche television personalities Marc Moser and Mark Rycroft.

“We had a great time and a ton of laughs,” Jackson said.

He worked the ensuing hockey game with good friend and fellow Canadian native Brad Watson, the longtime Highlands Ranch resident who also exceeded 1,000 games as an NHL ref.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed it, being out there, under the lights, the crowd, sights, sound smells – it was awesome,” Jackson said. “Brought back so many memories, so many good memories.”

Golf and hockey. That’s an ideal weekend for Dave Jackson.

Dave Jackson

• NHL referee career: 1990-2018
• Regular-season games worked: 1,550
• Golf handicap: 9.8
• Favorite Colorado courses: Sanctuary, Bear Dance, Perry Park
• Favorite courses outside Colorado: Beaconsfield Golf Club (Montreal), Royal Montreal Golf Course, Spyglass Hill (Pebble Beach, Calif.)
• Best round: 76 at Lone Tree Golf Club

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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