Local hockey refs support NHL officials, wear uniform to Capitals game

There's a new team in Capital One Arena.

It's called Team Zebra, and the roster is strictly made up of referees.
The Washington Capitals donated 200 tickets to local hockey referees to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The referees dressed in uniform for the game to honor the professionals on the ice. It's a night the attending referees coined "Referee Night."

Local referee Guy Wassertzug said the near-200 in attendance at the game occupy the gamut of leagues, with some working in youth hockey, others in college hockey and a few in professional hockey.
"Some of the people work for the ECHL and AHL," he said. "We have all kinds of refs and different communities represented."
Still, Team Zebra is there for the same reason.
"[Referees] don't get a lot of credit for what they do," Wassertzug said. "It's a hard job. We want to show them we appreciate what they do. We're all one big team."

Wassertzug, a Rockville, Maryland, resident, started playing hockey after he graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988 and has been a ref for the past 18 years.
"[I enjoy] giving back to the sport, being able to do something so that other people can play, because without refs there can't really be competitive hockey games," Wassertzug said.
His favorite part about donning the stripes? That's easy.
"Getting yelled at by strangers," he joked.