Take a close look at the wrists of the refs the next time you see an NHL game. Chances are that the refs will all be wearing Apple Watches. It’s not the watches that are the story, though.

t’s the special app that feeds haptic, situational awareness notifications to refs in real time during the game. You can’t download the NHL Watch Comms App, though. You’ve gotta be an NHL ref.

why refs want watches

Hockey is a fast sport, and as someone who’s been watching it rabidly for the past 29 years (go Hurricanes), I can tell you that it’s gotten faster. Refs can struggle to keep their situational awareness on top of 12 players on the ice, line changes, players about to exit the penalty box, and scrums off in the corner away from play, all while staying aware of the time remaining in play.

The NHL Watch Coms App sends haptic notifications to alert refs of game clock countdowns, penalty clock countdowns, and the jersey numbers of the players that are in the penalty box. Just knowing when a player is about to exit the penalty box and return to the ice can prevent a collision between them and a ref who’s got both his eyes far away on the puck.

NHL approached developer Presidio to develop the app. “The NHL has a long-standing relationship with Presidio helping the League to improve the player, official, coach and fan experience,” writes the NHL on its website.

“Presidio’s work spans the NHL’s entire technology ecosystem – from modernizing the NHL’s IT infrastructure, to developing and managing mission-critical applications and enhancing streaming and production experiences for fans. ”

Presidio chose haptic notifications—meaning the watch will vibrate, with different vibration patterns for different types of information—because an arena is way too loud for a ref to be able to hear an audio notification.

The app works by pulling 25 data points from the NHL’s OASIS feed, which is part of the NHL Edge puck and player tracking system, enabling it to send notifications to refs more quickly than push notifications would allow.

Rather than count on the home stadium’s Wi-Fi, which can be spotty at times, the Apple Watches are set to use cellular connectivity.

As of a press release on February 28, 2025, 92.5% of on-ice officials are wearing Apple Watches, says Dave Lehanski, the NHL’s executive vice president of business development and innovation.

By the end of the season, “almost all” will be wearing the Apple Watch, according to the NHL. If it helps the refs keep their eyes on the puck by freeing them from having to look up at the scoreboard as much, then I’m all for it.