Feature Story
USHL officials moving up the ladder
By
Jon Garver
The United States Hockey League is America’s Tier I
League, and widely known in hockey circles as the foremost producer of talent
for the NCAA and professional hockey ranks among leagues in the United
States. Since moving to a Tier I
classification in 2002, the USHL has averaged over 140 players committing to NCAA
Division I schools each year. The league
has also averaged 26 players per year being chosen in the
“One aspect of development in our league that is almost
constantly overlooked is our development of officials,” said USHL president
Gino Gasparini.
“Our league is part of the USA Hockey Officials Development Program and
that, in conjunction with Scott Brand, has done a wonderful job of finding
young officials for our league that have done a great job and moved on to
bigger and better things.”
The USA Hockey Officials Development Program was
established 12 years ago in an effort to develop officials – for the junior
ranks, college ranks and beyond. The
USHL has been a direct beneficiary of the program, receiving the best officials
that it has to offer and watching dozens move on to the college and
professional levels.
“I’m really proud of what this program has been able to
accomplish in a short time. We have
established ourselves as a bona fide path for the development of officials, and
that’s something that couldn’t be said prior to the program,” said Scott Brand,
USHL Director of Hockey Operations who oversees the league’s officials. “Today, the
A total of 13 former USHL officials have worked games in
the
“Those were two of the proudest moments I’ve had in my
time associated with the league,” Brand said.
“Those two put in significant time in the USHL and really learned their
craft in their time here. To see them
make it to the
But the development isn’t limited to just the higher
leagues. Several officials who worked
the league last season will be advancing to pro hockey, including Eugene Binda, Jarrod Ragusin, Joe
Sullivan and Kevin Graber, who will work full-time in the ECHL. Mike McCreary and Tom Steinel
will work full time in the Central Hockey League.
The advancement, however, does come with a price. When many officials move on to higher levels
that means a whole new crop of young officials are coming into the league.
“With our guys, it’s just like it is with the
players. When you have a lot of
turnover, you’re inevitably going to have a young group, and there will be
growing pains,” Brand said. “Everyone –
players, coaches, fans, everyone – needs to keep in mind that they are just
young kids and they are here to develop just like the players are. They’re
going to make mistakes and they’re going to get better.”
And like the officials, it appears that the program will
keep getting better as well.
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