The NHL has added three more zebras to its officiating ranks.  Referees Furman South and Cameron Voss, along with linesman Kory Nagy, will join the league this fall, splitting time between the AHL and NHL.  They join fellow new referees Pierre Lambert, Peter MacDougall, Chris Schlenker, and linesman Ryan Daisy.

Referee Furman South

South, 28, from Pittsburgh, played youth and high school hockey before moving up to Junior A with the EJHL’s Bay State Breakers. From 2008-2012, he played NCAA Division I hockey at Robert Morris University, picking up 11 goals and 20 assists in 133 games on right wing.  

Once his college career ended, he transitioned to officiating.  South previously worked in the AHL, NAHL, and USHL.

“My favorite part of refereeing,” he told ProSmartHockey, “is staying involved on the ice as part of a team and giving back to the sport I played my entire life.”

 

 

Referee Cameron Voss

Voss, a 29-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts, spent last season working in the AHL and college.  He took the ice for the IIHF Under-18 World Championships, held earlier this year in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  He also officiated this season’s NCAA Frozen Four tournament, representing Hockey East. Voss, along with linesman Ryan Daisy, participated in USA Hockey’s Elite Officiating camp in 2015.

 

He’s also seen his share of NHL prospects.

Voss and South both worked the NHL’s 2014 Prospect Camp in Traverse City, Michigan.

 

Linesman Kory Nagy

AHL/NHL Linesman Kory Nagy, then with the Toronto Marlies

AHL/NHL Linesman Kory Nagy, then with the Toronto Marlies

Like South and Voss, linesman Kory Nagy also comes from the AHL. Unlike those two, he played there. 

The former defenseman, a 2008 fifth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, has a combined 306 games of pro hockey under his belt,  In 117 AHL games with the Devils, Phantoms, and Marlies, he racked up seven goals and 15 assists. Nagy previously spent time in the ECHL and OHL. His playing career ended in 2014.

Nagy, 26, quickly went from defending the blueline to manning it. After joining the NHL’s officiating program as a minor league official in 2014, he’s worked games in the ECHL and AHL. The native of Walsingham, Ontario, also had a chance to referee games in the SPHL.

Nagy was featured on ECHL Week, where he spoke about the start of his officiating career.

“It was funny how it all started. My brother has a gym in Ontario and one of the guys’ sons that goes there is a supervisor for the officials and he suggested to my brother that I give officiating a try  At that point, I had no idea that this was ever an option or that guys actually did this. I thought about it a little bit and it seemed like it’d be a decent fit and that I should potentially give it a try.

“I’m really enjoying it.  Last year was my first year doing this — anything in the officiating world — and it was kind of werid seeing guys on the ice that I was playing with the year before.  Last year was a little tougher for me to swallow that I wasn’t playing. This year, I’ve accepted it and am really enjoying it.  I don’t look back at all anymore.  I’m just looking forward and looking to the next chapter.”

For Nagy, it looks like that next chapter will be the NHL.

Congratulations to Furman South, Cameron Voss, and Kory Nagy, and best of luck to them in the NHL.