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ECHL Announces On-Ice Officials Preseason Training Camp

September 25, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that its annual On-Ice Officials Training Camp will be held at the Ice Forum as well as the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. on Oct. 3-5.

In addition to returning referees and newly-hired referees, attendees include new full-time linesmen as well as selected referees from USA Hockey, the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The ECHL Officiating Department is managed by Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Rod Pasma and administered by Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis and Assistant Director of Officiating Joe Ernst. In addition to the on-ice officials the staff includes Commissioner Emeritus Patrick J. Kelly, Supervisors Jim Doyle, Mark Faucette, Mike Pearce, Jerry Pateman and Ken Wheler, Manager of Hockey Administration Lisa Hollenbeck and Coordinator of Hockey Operations Mike Murray.

"The ECHL Officiating Department is pleased with the dedication of our Officials whose preseason preparation and training will carry them into the regular season and through the Kelly Cup Finals," said Lewis. "We have NHL prospects who are joining the ECHL Officiating Staff and that allows us to have a good mixture of veteran and young officials, many of whom are preparing for a higher caliber of hockey.

"The officials working in the ECHL receive coaching that is designed to get them to the next level of hockey as evidenced by the number of officials who have moved up including Ghislain Herbert, who was recently hired by the NHL."

The officials at the training camp will participate in skating drills and rules tests as well as receiving a thorough review of the ECHL Rule Book with an emphasis on new rules and Rules Enforcement Standards.

Charlie Banfield, who is a Supervisor of NHL Officials, and Jim Mill, who is the Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the American Hockey League will address the officials as will Steve Chapman, who is the Chairman of the ECHL Board of Governors, and Jeff Pyle, who is the head coach and director of hockey operations for the Gwinnett Gladiators.

The officials will attend the St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers preseason game on Oct. 4 and the NHL officials assigned to the game will also address the camp.

There are 18 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David Banfield, Chris Ciamaga, Ghislain Hebert, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre, Ian Walsh and Dean Warren and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers. Barton, Leggo, McCauley, Nowak, Pollock, Rooney and Sharrers all worked the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

ECHL
The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league that will play with 23 teams in 16 states and British Columbia in 2008-09.

The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

The Premier 'AA' Hockey League has affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the NHL, marking the 12th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

There have been 355 former ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL after playing in the ECHL, including a record 47 in 2005-06 and 26 in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals, Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Laviolette, who began his coaching career with the Wheeling Nailers, led Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006. There are 15 assistant coaches in the NHL who were players or coaches in the ECHL.

The ECHL is represented for the eighth consecutive year on the National Hockey League championship team in 2008 by Aaron Downey of the Detroit Red Wings.

The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League in 2007-08 and for the past 19 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup champion. In the last six seasons the ECHL has had more call ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,300 call ups involving more than 1,200 players. In each of the last three seasons there have been more than 225 players who have played in both the ECHL and the AHL in the same season.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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