Donate Today EN | FR
Hall of Famers

Hall of Famer

R.A. 'Red' Storey

Inducted in 1986

Member Details

Date of Birth: March 5, 1918
Place of Birth: Barrie, Ontario
Date of Passing: March 15, 2006
Sport: Multisport
Member Category: Athlete

Career Highlights

1936-1941

Toronto Argonauts

1937, 1938

Grey Cup - Toronto Argonauts

1938

Scored 3 touchdowns and set up a fourth to lead Argos to Grey Cup victory

1943-1959

Official, various football, lacrosse, and hockey leagues

1950-1959

Official, National Hockey League

Hall of Famer R.A. 'Red' Storey
Sport

Story

The life of Red Storey was a life saturated in sport. A talented all-'round athlete, he earned distinction in a number of different sports as both a player and an official, so much so that upon his resignation as an NHL referee in 1959, he stated: "At one time or another I've hung up the pads and pullovers of football, hockey, lacrosse and baseball. Now I'm hanging up my referee's whistle. After a quarter century in sport, I have nothing else left to hang up." Storey had his first taste of athletic success when his Barrie Collegiate football team won the district title. He held numerous high school track-and-field records and spent his spare time playing baseball, softball, lacrosse, and hockey. Though his baseball talents were considerable, an arm injury forced him out of the running for the major leagues. In hockey, he played for teams in the Eastern Hockey League, the Michigan League, and the Quebec Senior League. In lacrosse, he played for the Senior Orillia Terriers, the Hamilton Tigers, and teams in Lachine and Montreal. In 1942 with Lachine, he scored an astounding twelve goals in a single game. It was in football, however, that his name truly came to prominence. Storey joined the Toronto Argonauts in 1936 at the age of 18, but his lack of experience initially kept him on the bench. In the 1938 Grey Cup final, his chance came when he was called to the field in the final quarter of play. The Argonauts were trailing 7-6, but Storey thundered through for three touchdowns and ran another 101 yards to set up a fourth. These tremendous plays led the Argonauts to a 30-7 thrashing of their opponents from the west, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and launched Storey into the realm of football's greatest heroes. When another injury put an end to his playing days in 1941, Storey turned to officiating. Over a 25-year period, he was a referee at the highest levels of three different sports. He worked in the Quebec Senior Lacrosse League for ten years, the Quebec Football League for 14 years, spent 12 years in intercollegiate football, and another 12 in the CFL. After officiating over 2,000 games in hockey's minor leagues, Storey joined the NHL in 1950. He was one of the league's most colourful and capable officials, refereeing seven consecutive Stanley Cup finals series from 1952 to 1958. A controversial playoff game and a lack of support from NHL president Clarence Campbell after the game, however, forced him to resign in 1959. Though he was out of the game, Storey was still a prominent figure in Canadian sport throughout the rest of his life. He remained in the public eye as a speaker, a narrator of sports films, and an official for over a thousand charitable hockey games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967 and named to the Order of Canada in 1992.