Recent News

LAHOA would like to again congratulate Andrew Wilk on his 3rd IIHF assignment! Andrew was selected to referee the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championships Division II Group B that took place January 28th-February 3rd in Gangnueng/Pyeongchang, South Korea. The same venue that hosted the Olympics!

Andrew has previously officiated the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia and the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championships Division I Group A in Vienna, Austria.

The teams present for this years assignment are South Korea, Israel, Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands and China!

Andrew ultimately was selected to work the gold medal game between between South Korea and Croatia. South Korea won the game and was promoted to Division 2A while Israel was relegated to Division III. Also to note, former Los Angeles King, Jim Paek, is the head coach of South Korea!

A quote from Andrew, “[It is] always an extreme honor and privilege to be selected for a IIHF assignment.  I have a had a great time at every tournament meeting new friends, exploring different cultures and getting a break from the everyday grind of the long minor-pro season.”

Congratulations Wilky!

LAHOA is proud to announce that former LAHOA presidents, Brent Tubbs and James Parker were selected to work the American Hockey League’s (AHL) All Star game that took place in Ontario, CA at Toyota Arena on January 27th! Both Brent and James have been working in professional hockey for 4 decades. This assignment caps off great career by both Brent and James. Brent and James have worked in various professional and junior leagues such as the PCHL, WCHL, ECHL, IHL, AHL, USHL, NAHL & SPHL as well as numerous IIHF assignments that include working the Asia Professional League. Most recently the duo worked the AHL outdoor game in Bakersfield, featuring the Condors and the Ontario Reign.

They will be working along side SDHRA official, Ryan Hersey and NHL contracted Furman South. All four officials will officiate both the skills competition, held the day before, and the all star game. The all star games boasts a similar style as the NHL with each division comprising teams of 9 skaters and a goalie and playing 3 on 3.

As far as the venue goes, a lot of LAHOA officials have worked at the Toyota Arena, formerly Citizens Business Bank Arena. The AHL’s All-Stars will head West for the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport, which will be held for the first time in California. The event will showcase the Inland Empire on an international scale, highlighting the growth of the game of hockey in Southern California.

Congratulations on the selection to both Brent Tubbs and James Parker. Also, a special shout out to SDHRA’s Ryan Hersey on being selected as a referee.

LAHOA would like to congratulate their own, Trevor Wohlford, on refereeing his first professional games. Trevor recently worked games in the Southern Professional Hockey League. The SPHL is a single A professional league consisting of 10 teams in the midwest and southeast United States. His first games consisted of a game in Knoxville, TN, followed by a series in Huntsville, AL and then off to Roanoke, TN. In January, Trevor will working again in the SPHL and travel to Evansville, IN, then again to Huntsville, AL as well as Birmingham, AL.

Trevor has been working for the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program (ODP) for 4 seasons now. He started his career in Montana working for the NAHL Tier 3 league (NAHL3). He was then promoted to Texas, working in the NAHL. He then moved to Indianapolis, IN and has lived there for the past season and a half working full time in the USHL. Many LAHOA professional officials have worked in the SPHL, including: Steven Berry, Neil Campbell, Niko Diehr, Eric McDonald, Brett Martin, Mike McBain, JM McNulty, Tanner & Tj Nua, Daniel Pecora, Brent Tubbs, Shane Warshaw, Steve Walsh & Andrew Wilk.

Welcome to the club, Trevor!

LAHOA would like to congratulate San Diego Hockey Referee’s Associations (SDHRA) official, Greg McAlpine, on his retirement from professional Hockey. Greg, worked his last game in the AHL last night (12/20/19) in San Diego between the Barracuda and the Gulls.

From the American Hockey League:

“Tonight, the American Hockey League would like to recognize linesman Greg McAlpine as he works his final professional hockey game. Greg has officiated professional hockey for two decades on the west coast starting in the former West Coast Hockey League, the ECHL, and now as a member of the AHL officiating staff. Greg is also recently retired from over 35 years of service as the Deputy Fire Chief for Heartland Fire and Rescue in La Mesa.”

Please join the American Hockey League, LAHOA and SDHRA in congratulating San Diego’s own, linesman Greg McAlpine, on a tremendous career.

LAHOA is proud to announce & congratulate LAHOA Official Caleb Andrade on being assigned his first United States Hockey League (USHL) games. Caleb made his USHL debut in mid November Cedar Rapids, IA. It’s common for officials to get ‘call-ups’ into higher leagues. Typically it happens towards the end of the season to prep an official for the next season. Almost like getting an early look at whats to come. With November USAHL assignments coming to Caleb, I would imagine that he will see his far share of more this season. Given he is living in Amarillo, TX which is an easy drive, YES DRIVE, to the southern USHL cities in Nebraska, Iowa & Illinois!

This is Caleb’s 4th season in USA Hockey’s Officiating Development Program. He started living in Montana working in the North American 3 League. Then moved to Illinois followed by Fargo, ND to work the North American Hockey League (NAHL). This season, Caleb, is living in Amarillo, TX and will be working the NAHL and, now, the USHL!

Over the off season, Caleb dropped 27 pounds which helped his pass all of his fitness testing at training camp with flying colors. He’s already worked in Cedar Rapids and Sioux City. He still has games scheduled in Des Moines, Green Bay & Lincoln. YES, in that order.

When we had a chance to catch up with Caleb about the experience so far he had this to say, “Ever since I started in LAHOA, I always heard the stories of the ODP and wanted to skate in these leagues [and] I always knew I could. [I] had some trouble along the way. A lot of times I told myself this is my last season. I’m glad I stuck with it! [I] wasn’t expecting to have a swing this early but very grateful for it!”

Congratulations to Caleb!

On Saturday, November 23rd at Great Park Ice & FIVEPoint Arena, LAHOA presented a donation to the American Cancer Society. Throughout the months of October and November, LAHOA officials donated game fees and wore custom referee and linesman sweaters while doing so. The games were primarily worked in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL). The LAHOA officials donated a total of $4,485 in game fees and the Anaheim Ducks decided to match it! The total donation to the American Cancer Society on behalf of LAHOA was $8,970!

Click here to check out the full photo gallery

The LAHOA Board of Directors would like to announce its association wide support of Cancer Awareness during the months of October and November. LAHOA will be showings its support by wearing the universal color of lavender. During this time officials can wear lavender laces, tape, and any other lavender accessories to show their support of Cancer Awareness. LAHOA isn’t just flying colors, we are giving our officials the chance to donate their game fees in support of the cure to cancer. At the end of November, LAHOA will be taking those donated game fees and donating them all to The American Cancer Society.

The ADHSHL will be providing officials the chance to wear custom lavender stripped referee and linesman sweater during games in which the game fees are being donated. We are also going to be doing this with CAHA and SCAHA games. The first of which happened at Great Park Ice & FIVEPoint Arena on Wednesday, October 16th. Many more are planned and we ask that you call share your photos online as well as send them to the e-mail below so that they can be posted on the website as well as the LAHOA Facebook Group and Instagram page. After all, it is about creating awareness.

LAHOA Facebook Group | LAHOA Instagram

E-mail Webmaster Pictures!

PLEASE ask your scheduler how you can get on a crew and donate!

LAHOA official, Andrew Wilk, will be going to Germany for thee weeks to work the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, or in english, German Ice Hockey League simply referred to as DEL. NHL=National Hockey League, get it? The DEL ranks with the Swiss leagues as the premier hockey league in Europe behind only the KHL. Andrew was selected by former NHL referee, Rob Shick who has been commissioned to bring North American referees over to work European hockey leagues to help the influx of North American players coming over to play in these same leagues, such as the DEL. Andrew will be making three trips this season. The first being September 16th thru October 7th. Andrew will work in nine different cities while there. Some of those cites include: Nuremberg, Ausburg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Schwenningen, Straubing, Düsseldorf, Köln & Iserlohn. Andrew is going on his 10th year in professional hockey having worked the 2012 SPHL Finals and the 2019 ECHL Finals. He has also worked games in the IHL, CHL and AHL as well as many IIHF assignments. Congratulations to Andrew on his selection. It is an honor to be recognized by such an accomplished referee! Have fun and make LAHOA proud. Penthouse.

The Anaheim Ducks will host the six-team Rookie Face-off Tournament Sept. 7-10 at Great Park Ice & FIVEPoint Arena. The 2019 tournament will feature the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights.

LAHOA officials refereeing the event are Andrew Wilk and Tyler Hascall. On the lines are Neil Campbell, Alec Rounds, Steve Walsh, Eric MacDonald & Eric Anderson. Working along with our LAHOA officials are Matthew Audette, Carter Sandlak, Jack Young, Rake Recucki & Katie Guay. Read more about the 4 female officials selected to work NHL prospect tournaments this year.

Day passes for the tournament are SOLD OUT, but individual game tickets for all nine games in the tournament are currently available.Day Pass buyers will receive communication directly to fulfill the transaction. Individual game tickets are $10 per game and arking for the entire tournament will be complimentary.

Saturday, Sept. 7

• Colorado vs. Vegas – 1:00pm @ FivePoint Arena
• Arizona vs. San Jose – 3:00pm @ Rink 3
• LA vs. Anaheim – 5:00pm @ FivePoint Arena

Sunday, Sept. 8

• LA vs. Colorado – 1:00pm @ FivePoint Arena
• Vegas vs. Arizona – 3:00pm @ Rink 3
• San Jose vs. Anaheim – 5:00pm @ FivePoint Arena

Tuesday, Sept. 10

• Arizona vs. Colorado – 11:00am @ FivePoint Arena
• LA vs. San Jose – 1:00pm @ Rink 3
• Vegas vs. Anaheim – 3:00pm @ FivePoint Arena

**UPDATE** Cal Camp a HUGE success! Lot’s went on at the CA Ref School. There was a record amount of league supervisors in attendance. The camp director, Michel Voyer, celebrated his 31st year of running the school. The new Pacific District RIC, Dan Ellison, hosted the seminar held in conjunction with the school. We congratulated Steve Stevens on his retirement. AND… USA Hockey Officiating Director, Dave Labuda, was in town!

**From the initial post.***

Save the date! California Referee School 2019 will be held August 2-4 at The Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, CA. The official training facility of the two-time Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings. This year California Referee School will be celebrating its 31st anniversary! As always, the California Referee School will have the top instructors and supervisors in attendance to help educate and scout officials. The school is open to all levels of officiating. From beginner to advanced, California Referee School is for everyone! Click the link below and to enroll and reserve your spot today! 

California Referee School

2017 Cal Camp Video