32 Officials Selected

When anyone Male or Female begins their officiating career it’s a great part-time job, but it can lead to far more than a weekend affair.

Then and only then they get hooked and it becomes far more and if they are dedicated enough, it can eventually become a full-time job.

At first they are subjected to far too much abuse from Coaches, Parents and even the players themselves, all who think they have a better understanding of the rules of their chosen sport.

The lower mainland of British Columbia has had a fair share of quality officials make it to the NHL, naturally making BC and the Associations extremely proud.

We now hear of yet another young official who is making strides to quite possibly make the soon jump to the pro ranks, either NHL or Semi-Pro Level.

He has officiated various championships over the past while and now he has been selected to officiate in the IIHF World Championships.

Pending a formal approval by the on-ice officials, the referees and linesmen will officiate at the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship taking place in Moscow and St. Petersburg May 6 – 22.

The selected officials come from a list of sixty-three (63) possible officials who have excelled in their overall performances in international and domestic competitions.

The officials that were selected both Referees and Linesmen come from 12 different countries.

The group includes both experienced officials combining for 62 World Championship and Olympic participations.

In addition to ten (10) officials who will work for the first time at the top men’s senior World Championship after having previously left their mark at other international events.

Among the most experienced referees is Konstantin Olenin (from the host nation) who officiated games at six (6) World Championships and one Olympics.

He officiated in the Gold medal game of the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship (Stockholm) and the Bronze medal game of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

This in addition to Daniel Piechaczek who calls Germany home has officiated one tournament more, ranking him at seven (7) World Championships and one Olympics.

Tobias Wehrli from Switzerland also worked in six (6) World Championships some of them as linesman.

He has also officiated two (2) Gold medal games at the Worlds in Prague as a referee and in 2010 in Cologne as a linesman.

Another official who converted from linesman to referee is Stefan Fonselius from Finland.

He was assigned to gold medal games at the 2008 Worlds in Berne and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and returns in Russia to officiate for the first time in six years in a top-level IIHF event.

Sportswave Congratulates those selected and wish them all the best.