Old hockey movies remind us of a day when we didn't need to be familiar with the referees to taunt them, just be able to look at the back of their sweaters and see their nameplate. In the 1994-1995 NHL Season this changed, as the NHL adopted a change to have its on-ice officials wear numbers instead of their last names (a change that would be picked-up by many other leagues given the NHL's prominence). Shouting at a number just doesn't work very well.