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Post by lefty17 on Jan 17, 2018 9:09:08 GMT -5
I read an article from the Denver Post (sorry can't find the link) which stated Dave Jackson would retire at season's end. It also stated that Brad Watson is going to stay on and he is planning to retire in 2019.
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Post by tj on Jan 17, 2018 11:25:54 GMT -5
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Post by mike on Jan 17, 2018 12:02:47 GMT -5
I would guess that Chris Schlenker and Evgeny Romasko are the favorites for the two spots. Pierre Lambert is the only other Referee on a two way contract who has worked more than a handful of games so far this year, but Romasko would give them their first full time official not from North America (although some were born outside of North America, all lived most of their lives in North America before working in NHL).
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Post by tj on Jan 17, 2018 16:51:16 GMT -5
Agree with mike on who appears to be next up. The NHL will need to keep the pipeline of new officials rolling as there are currently five officials at 50+ (Watson is 56 and Jackson is 52) and another nine who are 45+. 30 seems to be the magic number assuming an official progresses well through the AHL. Garrett Rank and Tom Chmielewski (who debuted the last two years) are both 30. Lambert is 29, Schlenker 33, and Romasko 35 (he brought a number of years of Russian experience with him).
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Post by FredFan7 on Jan 17, 2018 17:13:53 GMT -5
Retirement ages are so young for hockey officials.
Steratore is in his prime in his mid 50s, while 56 is "old" for a hockey official.
I would guess the NHL wants an official to put in about 20 years and retire around age 50. Some NFL officials have less than three years experience at age 50!
Hockey is hard on the body and the officials have to be just as athletic as the players.
You don't need to have batting or fielding skills to umpire baseball.
You don't need to be able to dribble or shoot to call basketball.
You don't know to know how to block and tackle to call football.
But you need to skate almost as well as the players to call hockey.
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Post by lefty17 on Jan 18, 2018 0:36:27 GMT -5
Before the 2 referee system took full effect, most NHL referees retired before they were 50. There are a lot fewer miles skated per game so that lengthened the careers of many very good referees.
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Post by observer on Jan 18, 2018 9:29:32 GMT -5
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Post by tj on Mar 29, 2018 14:55:24 GMT -5
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Post by tj on Apr 2, 2018 13:29:32 GMT -5
Tom Kowal worked his last game on Saturday. That makes two referees (Jackson and Kowal) and two linesmen (Wheler and Heyer) who've hung up the skates.
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