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NHL Hires Former ECHL Referee Hebert

Published on September 3, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


PRINCETON, N.J. - The ECHL announced that the National Hockey League has hired Ghislain Hebert, who worked as a full-time referee in the ECHL in 2007-08 including in the Kelly Cup Finals.

"We are pleased for Ghislain, who earned the right to join the NHL Officiating Staff due to his solid work in the ECHL," said ECHL Director of Officiating Bryan Lewis. "The ECHL is pleased that the NHL has recognized the ECHL as a prime proving ground for young and aspiring officials and we look forward to other officials from our league being given the same opportunity as Ghislain."

"The time I spent in the ECHL was an important part of my development as a referee," said Hebert, who will work some games in the NHL and primarily in the American Hockey League. "The level of play and the supervision and instruction that is given to ECHL officials provide a perfect environment for a young referee who wants to work at the next level."

In addition to Hebert there are 17 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2008-09 with referees David Banfield, Chris Ciamaga, 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.

Former ECHL coaches working as head coaches in the NHL are Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals, at Scott Gordon of the New York Islanders and at 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 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.

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

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 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.

Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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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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