The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors is proud to announce the return of it’s USA Hockey Officiating Development Program officials. They have been living in the midwest, working full time in various junior leagues such as the United States Hockey League & North American Hockey League. Here is a recap of each officials season.

United States Hockey League

Eric McDonald

Chicago, Illinois

SPHL Presidents Cup Finals

USHL Clark Cup Finals

Trevor Wolford

South Bend, Indiana

USHL Conference Finals

Niko Diehr

Chicago, Illinois

USHL Second Round

North American Hockey League

John Lindner

Dallas, Texas

NAHL Robertson Cup Finals

Tyler Hascall

Dallas, Texas

NAHL Divisional Finals

Caleb Andrade

Fargo, North Dakota

NAHL First Round

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors would like to congratulate Eric MacDonald and John Lindner on their selection to work the Finals in their respective league!

Eric McDonald

Eric has been living in Chicago, Illinois this season, working full time in the USHL. He also skated games in the AHL and SPHL. Eric was chosen to work the SPHL Presidents Cup Finals and will now cap off a great season by working the USHL’s Clark Cup Finals!

John Lidner

John lived in Dallas, Texas this season working half of his games in the NAHL and the other half in the USHL. When it came down to playoffs, his assignments came in the NAHL. John has been selected to work the NAHL’s Robertson Cup Finals!

Congratulations to Eric and John on a great season and ultimately, making it to the end in their respective leagues!

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors would like to congratulate Mike McBain and Jake Ryono on being selected to work the 2019 Thorne Cup Finals. The event will take place April 9-13 in Ogden, UT. The finals will be played tournament style starting with six teams in two pools of three. The top two teams from each pool will play in the semi finals, followed by the winners playing for the Thorne Cup in the finals.

LAHOA is proud to announce & congratulate LAHOA official Tyler Hascall on being assigned his first United States Hockey League (USHL) games! Tyler will be refereeing a game between the Madison Capitals and the Muskegon Lumberjacks in Madison, WI on April 5th with fellow LAHOA official Niko Diehr, who will be manning the lines. The next night, on April 6th, Tyler will referee a game between the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Chicago Steel in Dubuque, IA. Tyler has been living in Texas this season working for the North America Hockey League (NAHL). Often times, near the end of the season, officials who have been performing well in their respective leagues, in this case, the NAHL for Tyler, will be given the opportunity to get a “taste” of the next level, the USHL. This is a good sign for Tyler, who lived in Montana last season working primarily Jr A Tier 3. Up next for Tyler after a weekend “up top” is the NAHL playoffs. Good luck this weekend and the rest of the way!

LAHOA Jr & Pro Officials

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors is extremely proud to announce the following officials who will be working the 2019 USA Hockey Girls Tier 1 & Women’s A, B & C National Championships! The event will be held April 4-8 at Great Park Ice & FivePoints Arena & The Rinks – Anaheim Ice.

Brittany Trani, Brea Benedict, Ryan Sanchez, Michael Pecolar, Andrew Martin, Louis Magnifico, Dylan Freed, Ian Miller, Chris Hahn, Chris Garcia, Steve Appley & Richard Ozaki.

This is a huge accomplishment for any official. Make sure to congratulate these guys if you see them around the rinks! Great work this season!

LAHOA member Andrew Wilk has been selected for the 29th Winter Universiade Games in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Students aged 17 to 25, and graduates who have received an academic degree or diploma in the year preceding the competitions are allowed to participate in the competition. Wilk will be the only American official on the men’s side joined by 17 other officials from around the world.  The games will be held from the opening ceremonies March 2nd through the closing ceremonies March 12th with 50 countries competing in 11 sports.  In an exciting coincidence, Wilk’s younger brother Austin, a junior at Lindenwood University near St Louis, Missouri, will be representing team USA as a defenseman at the games.  Wilk has said this will be the first time both he and his brother will be participating at the same tournament.  IIHF rules prohibit Wilk from officiating team USA games. 

Congratulations Wilky!

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors would like to congratulate the following officials on their selection to work the 2019 CAHA A/B State Championships March 29-31 in San Jose at Sharks Ice!

Ian Arougheti, Sara Parras, Brea Benedict, Alyson Ellner, Jason Lhamon, Jacob Rozenberg, Dave Grifman, Dylan Freed, Matthew Norman.

Congratulations on a great season!

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors would like to congratulate the following officials on their selection to work the 2019 SCAHA Finals this weekend at Toyota Sports Center. Official practice facility of the 2-Time Stanley Cup Champion, LA Kings!

10U B – Blake Kaganovich, Garo Simitian, Jake Herzog

10U B – Brea Benedict, Garo Simitian, Sara Parras

10U BB – Austin Sebesta, Bradley Roberts, Scott Workman

10U A – Matthew Zucker, Bradley Roberts, Scott Workman

12U BB – Ryan Spear, Todd Siegel, Dave Grifman

16U A – Matthew Norman, Andrew Sanders, Steve Appley

14U B – Ian Arougheti, Neil Liberotti, Todd Siegel

10U A – Christopher Hahn, Keely Peters, Dave Grifman

14U A – Dylan Freed, Andrew Sanders, Neil Liberotti

12U A – Alexander Kitano, Matthew Norman, Christopher Hahn

The LAHOA Executive Board and the Board of Directors would like to congratulate the following officials on their selection to work the 2019 CAHA High School State Championships (non-national bound) 3/22-3/23 at Ice Station Valencia!

Kenny Brzezinski, Louis Magnifico, Neil Liberotti, Andrew Sanders, Dave Grifman, Ramsey Ramirez, Jason Kitay, Scott Klein, & Ken Nichols.

Congratulation do you all! Hard work pays off!

The LAHOA Executive Board and the LAHOA Board of Directors would like to congratulate Ian Miller and Michael Pecolar on their selection to work the 2019 ACHA National Championship Tournament in Frisco, TX. 

More than 1,500 players from 72 teams across all five ACHA divisions—Men’s Division 1, 2, and 3, and Women’s Divisions 1 and 2 — will converge upon the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area from March 21 through March 31, 2019, to compete in more than 100 games.

The 2019 ACHA National Championships will be played at the newly named Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas as well as additional Children’s Health StarCenter facilities. The Comerica Center complex includes the home practice facility for the NHL Dallas Stars, the Stars’ Executive Offices and a recently renovated 6,000 seat arena.  The arena portion of the complex, formerly Dr Pepper Arena, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue that is home of the Texas Legends. (NBA G League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks)

Congratulations to both Ian and Michael!