Oliver “Butch” Mousseau, an NCAA hockey referee from Erie, died Friday from a head injury he suffered a week earlier in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was 48.
“The world and the Colorado hockey family didn’t just lose a good one, they lost a great one,” said Jay Stickney, the University of Denver hockey radio broadcaster who was a University of Colorado fraternity brother with Mousseau. “He was everything I ever wanted in a friend.”
Mousseau fell to the ice and hit his head last Friday during warmups for a Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff game between Ferris State and Michigan Tech in Grand Rapids. Upon tripping, he was skating with his hands in his pockets, unable to break the fall.
Bleeding out of his ears, Mousseau was taken to Mercy Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and was put in a drug-induced coma because of brain swelling. Doctors had hoped he could be transferred to Craig Hospital in Englewood if his condition improved.
According to friend Tim Swiader, a former WCHA linesman living in Denver, Mousseau suffered a brain hemorrhage Friday. Mousseau is survived by his wife, Macaire, their three children Sam (SJ), Abbie and Olivia; his parents and four siblings (two brothers and two sisters). Funeral arrangements are pending.
Mousseau is a Native American who attended Fairview High in Boulder before studying at CU. He and Stickney were Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers who both lived and worked in Maui after graduation. Mousseau gained his nickname “Big Kahuna” from his time in Hawaii.
“No matter what was going on around him he always seemed to have a smile,” Stickney said. “I don’t think I’ll ever find a person say a bad thing about Butch. He always had a smile and he made you feel good when you saw him.”
It’s an example of an exceptional person tragically dying, Stickney said: “It’s beyond frustrating. It’s beyond shocking.”
He added: “It’s unbelievable how many people knew him loved the guy. I always joked that he wanted to be a referee because he needed somebody not to like him.
“He loved hockey. Loved being a referee.,”
Mousseau was a full-time WCHA referee since 2003 and he worked part-time for the Colorado Springs-based National Collegiate Hockey Conference since its 2013 inception.
He was also a USA Hockey official since 1998, working Colorado adult leagues, in addition to working the professional East Coast Hockey League, Central Hockey League and American Hockey League, Mousseau worked an NHL preseason game.
As the league’s only Native American referee, his NHL officials’ sweater and skates are in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
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“Butch was universally respected for his work on the ice and beloved for his kind and generous spirit to all, along with his love for the great sport of hockey at all levels,” WCHA supervisor of officials Greg Shepherd said in a release. “He was truly a very special person, and I will miss him dearly. My heart goes out to his family.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
