NHL Referees Begin Striking : Hockey: Replacements work three games while talks break off between league and on-ice officials.

Referees and linesmen began their first full strike in NHL history Monday night. Replacements worked three games while talks broke off between the league and its on-ice officials.

About 70 men from minor, pro and junior leagues have been hired to handle the work usually done by the 58 members of the NHL Officials Association.

The first games officiated by the new referees and linesmen were Montreal at Ottawa, Edmonton at Toronto and Winnipeg at Calgary.

About two hours of talks Sunday proved futile and no further negotiations have been scheduled. NHLOA negotiator Don Meehan said he plans to initiate contact and meet with league executives later this week.

“They are too busy waging war to call,” Meehan said.

“I do not think anyone is worried who calls who first,” said Brian Burke, the NHL’s director of hockey operations. “We will meet them anywhere, any time.”

The replacement officials wore radio receivers in their ears, allowing them to get instructions from league supervisors in the arenas.

The regular referees and linesmen have been without a contract since Aug. 31. They want a 60% raise in the first year of the contract, while the league is offering 29% First-year referees earn $50,000 and first-year linesmen $33,000.

The two sides differ by about $1.5 million a year. The NHL’s proposal, a four-year contract, would cost about $5 million. The officials’ proposal would cost $6.5 million.

The officials voted unanimously Friday to reject what the league said was its final offer.

Earlier Monday, Burke met with the Maple Leafs and Oilers. Two other league executives met with with the other four teams playing Monday night.

Burke denied players have been told to refrain from criticizing the referees. NHL bylaws prohibit criticism of league officials by players or team personnel.

“I didn’t mention criticism of officials,” Burke said. “I did not mention that topic with the players. I asked them for cooperation.”

However, Brett Hull of St. Louis and Kirk Muller of Montreal have said they have been ordered not to comment on the situation.

NHL spokesman Arthur Pincus said commissioner Gary Bettman was monitoring Monday night’s three games from a television studio.

Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players Association, met with the players in Toronto.

“The fact there are replacement referees creates some philosophical problems among the membership,” he said. “We just hope that things are as buttoned up as they can be and there are no problems.”

The NHL announced game officials in Toronto will not be available for comment after the game. Reporters were asked to submit questions to a pool reporter. The reporter would give them to an NHL supervisor, who would speak with the referee.

Meehan claimed the NHL barred him access to the Maple Leaf Gardens press box, where he has been a fixture for 15 years. The NHL said the decision was made by the Maple Leafs, but club spokesman Pat Park said he knew “nothing about it.”

NHL referees staged a wildcat walkout for one game during the 1988 playoffs in a dispute involving Jim Schoenfeld, then the New Jersey Devils coach. The league brought in substitute officials for the New Jersey-Boston game.

Players walked off the job during a labor dispute in April of 1992, interrupting the schedule for 10 days.

In Toronto, Luc Lachapelle of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League dropped the puck for the opening faceoff in the game between Toronto and Edmonton.