Bill (The Big Whistle) Chadwick, the first U.S.-born official in NHL history who was later a popular broadcaster for the New York Rangers, died Saturday. He was 94.

His death was announced by his son Bill and confirmed by family friend and hockey historian John Halligan. Chadwick had been ill for some time and died in hospice care in Cutchogue, N.Y.

For 16 seasons, from 1939 to 1955, and despite being blind in one eye, Chadwick was one of the best officials the NHL. He invented and perfected the system of hand signals to signify penalties, and the system is now used throughout the world.

"Bill Chadwick had the confidence and the creativity to introduce hand signals to officiating," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "He had the courage to make the tough calls. His honesty and integrity brought him to the very top of his profession."

In March 1937, Chadwick was at the Garden watching the Rovers in pre-game warmups. Over the public address system, he was asked to report to the timekeeper's bench. The scheduled referee, Ray Levia, was stuck in a snowstorm, and Tommy Lockhart, the Garden's amateur hockey boss, asked Bill to referee the game.

"Where's the whistle?" Chadwick said.

Chadwick soon caught the attention of NHL president Frank Calder. In 1939, Calder asked Chadwick to join the NHL as a linesman.

He accepted and became the NHL's first U.S.-born official, working his first game at the Garden, the Montreal Canadiens versus the New York Americans. A year later, he was promoted to referee.

"There were some prejudices against me being an American and all," Chadwick remembered, "but I had the full support of Calder and his successor, Clarence Campbell. Lester Patrick, the Rangers' general manager, was also a great booster of mine."

As for the hand signals, Chadwick couldn't recall exactly when he started using them. "Somewhere around 1943 or 1944 would be fairly accurate," he said.

"I know it was during the Stanley Cup finals," Chadwick said.

"There was so much noise that I had difficulty communicating with the penalty timekeeper."

Chadwick's signals were not made official by the league until 1956, the year after he retired.

Arthur Friedman, the Rangers' longtime statistician, dubbed Chadwick "The Big Whistle" in 1969, and the nickname stuck.

"That nickname made me a celebrity," Chadwick recalled.

As a referee, Chadwick worked more than 900 regular-season games, plus a record 42 Stanley Cup final games, including 13 games in which the Cup was decided.

In 1964, Chadwick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, only the fifth official, and the first American-born official, to be so honoured. In 1974, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1975, he won the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.