Hey everyone! Just making this post for anyone who ever gets the opportunity to attend the NHL Exposure Combine since I think there is so little information out there.

Arrival: Thursday evening you all meet in the Harbor Center to check in, you're all broken up into 8 teams (presumably somewhat skill based) and you're with this team for the whole weekend. You then drop your stuff in your locker room where you get your gear to wear during the combine. The helmets they provided this year were the Warrior cf80 helmet with a CCM visor, some of which were scratched. The helmet itself is very uncomfortable, so if you have your own black helmet with a visor bring it with you and you can wear it. They also provided CCM Referee Hockey Pants, if you're a larger individual don't expect these to fit. The same goes for any other officiating gear. You're instructed to bring your full hockey gear but you can get away without chest pads, pants, socks, etc. Mostly everyone is wearing the reffing gear throughout the weekend.

Friday Morning: Be prepared to push yourself past your limits. The on ice testing consists of:

• Front sprint 40 m
• Backwards sprint 40 m
• Forwards transition to backwards then forwards transition backwards (blueline to goalline)
• 6x (Down and Back counts as 1) Forwards (75 m)
• 6x (Down and Back counts as 1) Backwards (75 m)
• 6x (Down and Back counts as 1) Forwards down Backwards back (75 m)

The off ice evaluation consists of:

• Wingate
• Push-ups
• 60 sec Plank
• 5-10-5 Agility
• Vertical Jump (hands on hips)
• YoYo Run
• Body Fat Measurement (InBody570)
• There is also a rules test, but nothing like USAH, HC, D1/D3. Its video based and it measures your reaction time as well as if you make the correct call. It bases your score on a -1 to 1, the closer you are to a positive 1 the better.

Once all of the testing is completed, you and your team get into playing for the "Combine Cup" you play every team and some teams will absolutely run circles around you if you never played pro/semipro. They pull in local goalies to play the weekend, some are definitely better than others, so you're at their mercy. Some of the goalies are also playing games back to back to back, so they are almost as tired as you will be.

The rest is mostly what you make of it. I loved the experience, had an awesome team, and we ended up reffing the Combine Cup Championship game. You definitely meet a lot of really cool people at this event (current NHL/AHL referees & line-ies) and supervisory staff. I've been a career referee with USAH, NCAA D3, USPHL, NCDC and it was a learning experience for me. I know a lot of people hate on the guys that just get out of playing pro and go straight to the ECHL/AHL/NHL, but it makes you realize the speed that these guys carry and you're probably not capable of working at that level, but that's OK. Some people, like myself aren't trying to be professional referees on TV. I'm just trying to navigate the hockey world to best fit my abilities and understanding of the game.

All said and done, it's a great motivator to push yourself physically and keep up with the game, and everyone is there for the love of the game.

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I’m a new ref. I keep getting conflicting information on equipment requirements. I know I need the sweater, helmet with visor, and pants. But what pants should I get? What pads should I get?

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Pretty low level Canadian beer league. I'll put what the refs had in the comments after a little while, just looking for unbiased opinions.

Hello, the last game I reffed was the very end of March. I got back out on a public skate today and felt a little wobbly haha. I don’t play in leagues anymore and spend my summers doing other hobbies/ outdoor stuff with free time. I basically only ref September through end of March. What do you “seasoned” guys like myself do for skating conditioning leading up to the regular fall/winter season? I am not out of shape, I just now have knees and joints now that get achy take longer to adjust and keep up with the pack. Thanks

I’m a new level 1 referee in south east Michigan. I’m having issues getting in touch with game assignors. If anyone has good contact information I could use that would be appreciated!

10U rec, coaches had a fit about this, told me it was a charge, which is a 5+GM, and then proceeded to scold me as I opened my mouth to tell him that the base is a minor+msc(he still would’ve been gone for taking 4 penalties) I also didn’t seem to have the confidence to toss a coach.

Same player from the penalty situation, after his double minor.

Call on the ice: crickets.

This game I was the more experienced ref out there, as my partner hadn’t worked very many full ice games.

This game was also a trainwreck when it came to the penalty timekeeper, and a bunch of other stuff.(earlier in the game, I stopped play because the clock was running, but the penalty time wasn’t running. They also didn’t add the full double minor into the clock, and he would’ve come out too early if I didn’t catch it[blew whistle at him because play was stopped, and sent him back to the box][I then had to correct the coach that it was a double minor and not a major])

lol long story.

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I had a call on a player, who had hooked one of the opposing players, They then proceeded to slash the same player

Am I allowed to call both infractions, or can I only call one because they were against the same player?

The following situation happened in a game a fellow official was on.

Under rule 3.2, is a player, whose stick has the butt end separate from the stick, playing with a broken stick? The player threw the butt onto the ice, then proceeded to score a goal?

What defines broken?

Under rule 10.6, the stick would still be legal as it is not altered, dangerous, uncertified or illegal.

Under 3.3, there is no mention of it.

While this happened in a game under HC rules, what does hockey USA say?

For anyone who officiated APHL last year...

How much did they pay?

Did they pay any travel?

Did they actually pay out on time?

Was it reported income and did they provide a timely 1099?

Did they carry any insurance for officials?

They are looking for officials, but not disclosing pay, and while I am intrigued, trying to get officials without posting any info about pay seems a bit shady and my emails have gone unanswered.

Anybody know good roller hockey leagues to look into and if it’s worth it. Trying to beef up my referee resume with anything I can. Preferably in the Calgary/red deer area.

Hey all,

I have my first SRD coming up in two weeks and was wondering if anyone had tools or old SRD's to help prepare for the test? I have been reviewing the rule book but any tips or old examples would be of great help.

Thanks,

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I’m heading into my second year of reffing with USA Hockey. I’ve done my online module, zoom meeting, and test. It’s been over a week and card and crest issue date is still blank. My safesport expires in October but is not completing that holding up my crest being issued? If that is the case, how do I VMware complete safesport? My dashboard shows 0 for “not started” and my safesport is green so there’s nowhere to even access the renewal. Or am I just being impatient?

Hi - our West Coast rink in Bremerton Washington announced today that Seacoast Officials will now be our assignor's. Has anyone had any experience with this organization?

I'm reffing a U18 tournament. I call a roughing penalty on a kid who was giving the business to another kid in the corner. I take him to the box and he says :

" The other guy was holding me... you didnt see that?"....

I said : No sorry I could only see what you were doing to him.

He says : Fuck man if he was holding me any more than that he'd be holding my dick!

I instantly tried really....really hard not to laugh at what he said and started covering my face. It was a serious tournament and I wanted to look professional. Finally I couldnt hold it and started cracking up. The player saw me laugh and then started laughing too. I closed the door and we had a mutual moment of "This is fun", and he served his penalty.

Got any good ones?

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Hey guys,

Thoughts on this one....

I had a player on a breakaway.... I had perfect vision of it. Player interferes with him from behind, player tries to shoot but cant get anything on it because hes falling because of the interference from the other player (no intention to go for the puck at all). Puck rolls off the players stick, into the goalie and goes to the corner. I call it a penalty shot... The other ref, an older guy, comes over and says hes reversing it because the player did get a shot off regardless of how much he was interfered with.

Whos right?

Hi. I’ve contacted several people from the USA Hockey webpage to get started with a mentor. I’ve gotten no replies.

Does anyone know who the best person to contact? I’m in Orange County California.

Thanks!

I don't mean to show questions to help anyone cheat but these are confusing me. The first one seems like an actual conflict. The second one, the rule states, in this case a 5 on 3, that the first penalty would expire on a goal, but the first penalty was part 1 of a double minor. So what is the correct answer? Would player Y get out? The option of "no penalty may terminate" also isn't right, but I had to select one. I didn't see the case study on this one.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/NH1wDpP

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