TRAVERSE CITY, MI-Six former and two current members of the USHL officiating staff have been selected to work the 13th Annual National Hockey League Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan September 11-15.
Eight NHL teams will ice teams in the tourney which has featured such NHL stars as Henrik Zetterberg , Dany Heatley , Pavel Datsyuk , Jiri Fischer , Niklas Kronwall and Ilya Kovalchuk . They all participated as prospects in their early playing days.
Teams participating in this year’s tournament include the Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus, Blue Jackets Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Each team is limited to just four professional hockey players defined as those who have played in the AHL, ECHL or Central Hockey League. Most s katers participating have been selected during one of the last three NHL drafts.
Not only does the tournament feature the first exposure for many of the players to NHL style hockey but the tournament games also allows the NHL Officiating staff to look at a number of officiating prospects who are working on advancement in their officiating careers.
Included on the officiating roster this year are six former and two current members of the USHL staff as follows: Geno Binda, Boston, MA; Boone Bruggman, Wenatchee, WA, Dan Cohen, Ft. Wayne, IN; Mike Hamilton, Toronto, ON, Tim Mayer, Okemos MI, Geoff Miller, North Hampton, NH, Judson Ritter, Nazareth PA, and Matthew Tyree, Spooner, WI.
The above listed officials are all current or former members of the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program which is now in the 13th season of existence. About 400 of the universe of 26,500 USA Hockey registered officials are designated as part of the program. Over 300 former members of the ODP are working as on-ice officials in professional, collegiate and international hockey programs world-wide.
C ontact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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