CUTCHOGUE, N.Y. (AP) - 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 son Bill and confirmed by John Halligan, a family friend and hockey historian. Chadwick had been in declining health for a number of years and died while in hospice care.

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

In 1935, playing for a Met League All-Star Team at Madison Square Garden, Chadwick was struck in the right eye by an errant puck as he stepped onto the ice to face a team from Boston. Doctors were unable to restore the vision in the eye, but he continued to play. Then, early in the 1936-37 season, he was hit in his left eye by an opposing player's stick. The injury wasn't nearly as serious as the earlier one, but Chadwick knew his hockey-playing days were finished.

In 1939, NHL president Frank Calder asked Chadwick to join the NHL as a linesman. He accepted and became the NHL's first U.S.-born official. A year later, he was promoted to referee.

In 1964, Chadwick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, only the fifth official, and the first American-born official, to be so honored. In 1974, he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.