While everyone else talks about the teams that did (and didn’t) make the NHL playoffs, one thing I do every year is take a look at the officials and see who is in and who isn’t, and follow that through the playoffs rounds (and so did Kerry Fraser). Who makes the playoffs and how far they get is a rough indicator of what the league thinks of their overall performance (with a dose of seniority tossed in), so it’s a way of comparing who you think are the top refs with what the league thinks.
And no, my list never matches up with the leagues… not completely, at least.
So first, referees…
Here’s the list of those that made the playoffs. I use this list of officials as the basis, as these are the guys who are far enough into the system to have made it into the union.
- Development refs: David Banfield (2007), Jean Hebert (2010), Ghislain Hebert (2008), Marcus Vinnerborg (2010).
- Stephan Auger (1994)
- Gord Dwyer (2003)
- Mike Hasenfratz (2000)
- Dave Jackson (1989)
- Dennis LaRue (1989)
- Rob Martell (1992)
- Dean Morton (1999)
- Justin St.Pierre (2003)
- Don VanMassenhoven (1992)
These refs made the first round:
- Paul Devorski
- Eric Furlatt
- Marc Joannette
- Tom Kowal
- Steve Kozari
- Mike Leggo
- Chris Lee
- Wes McCauley
- Brad Meier
- Dan O’Halloran
- Dan O’Rourke
- Tim Peel
- Brian Pochmara
- Kevin Pollock
- Chris Rooney
- Kelly Sutherland
- Francois St. Laurent
- Stephen Walkom
- Ian Walsh
- Brad Watson
- Stand-by’s — Greg Kimmerly and Frederick E’Cuyer
When senior refs miss the first round, it’s notable. this year, Dave Jackson, Dennis LaRue, Rob Martell, Don VanMassenhoven are all missing from the second season. Sometimes this is due to injury, and it’s become somewhat of a tradition for retiring officials to bow out of the playoffs, which gives them a chance to schedule in their final game and bring the family in for it (Dan Schachte did that this year, for instance). I don’t know the status of the refs as far as injuries, but to be honest, other than VanMassenhoven, nobody on the “golfing” list strikes me as a major surprise, but I don’t see any of them missing from the end of season games. I must admit I’ve never been a big Dave Jackson fan, something that has put me in disagreement with the NHL officiating office, given how they’ve rewarded on him in past years.
The crew that made it? In general, I think the current NHL referees are a solid group overall, if a bit bland. That blandness is by design, and really necessary to make the two referee system successful, but that’s an essay for some other time – I do miss the flavor a Paul Stewart or Kerry Fraser brought to the game, though.
I do like these refs, though: Devorski, McCauley, Sutherland, Walkom and Watson would be my choices to go into the final round.
Linesmen:
These linesmen didn’t make the first round:
- Development Linesmen: Bryan Pancich (2009)
- Pierre Champoux (1988)
- Michel Cormier (2003)
- Mike Cvik (1987)
- Ryan Galloway (2002)
- Don Henderson (1994)
- Brian Mach (2000)
- Andy McElman (1993)
- Jean Morin (1991)
- Thor Nelson (1994)
- Vaughn Rody (2000)
- Dan Schachte (1982) — retired
These linesmen did make the first round:
- Derek Amell
- Steve Barton
- David Brisebois
- Lonnie Cameron
- Scott Cherrey
- Greg Devorski
- Scott Driscoll
- Shane Heyer
- Brad Kovachik
- Brad Lazarowich
- Steve Miller
- Jean Morin
- Brian Murphy
- Jonny Murray
- Derek Nansen
- Tim Nowak
- Pierre Racicot
- Anthony Sericolo
- Jay Sharrers
- Mark Wheler
- Stand-bys — Darren Gibbs, Mark Shewchyk
A number of the “graybeards” among the linesmen didn’t make the cut this year — Donny Henderson, Mike “oh my god, he’s tall” Cvik, Thor Nelson. Dan Schachte retired and played his last game towards the end of the season (god speed, Dan, and thank you). Mike Cvik has always been one of my favorite linesmen, not just because he’s huge and a good peacekeeper on the ice, but seems to have a good rapport with players as well — but it’s been clear he’s heading towards the end of his career, too. I don’t see any names on the “golf” list that make me want to complain about the choices, but then, I’m not sitting there taking notes on who’s missing offside calls any more, either.
It’s nice to see Jay Sherrers and Shane Heyer just carrying on. Don’t be surprised to see them in the final round, along with Devorski and Brad Lazarowich. That’d be my choices.
These are good, solid crews (a certain missed offsides call notwithstanding. One can guess one name is already marked off the 2nd round roles…). It’s interesting that this is really the first year that all of the referees that were skating the NHL when the league expanded to include the Sharks are now gone, and except for a couple of linesmen like Sharrers and Cvik, pretty much true for them as well); for referees, it’s almost hit the point that referees that pre-date the two ref system have retired. Anyone who still wants to complain about that, time to move on, the transition is complete.
