ECHL Refs To Officiate Traverse City Prospect Tournament

The annual Traverse City Prospect Tournament kicks off Friday, featured top prospects from eight NHL teams.   Participating in this year’s event are the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and the host Detroit Red Wings.  

Also taking part in the Traverse City Tournament are referees and linesmen from the ECHL, who will be officiating the event.  The league is sending 16 on-ice officials, along with Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst and ECHL Officiating Development Coach Mike Pearce.  Ernst and Pearce will be responsible for the selection and scheduling of the officials for each game of the tournament, and will assist any playing or rule situation that takes place during the tournament. The officiating staff for the tournament includes eight referees and eight linesmen.

“The Detroit Red Wings, along with Ann Reeves and her staff at Center Ice, do an outstanding job of hosting this tournament each year, and it is an honor for the ECHL and our staff to be working such a well-respected tournament as Traverse City,” Ernst said. “It will provide our officials excellent experience going into the season as these players are competing for roster spots with their respective NHL clubs. It also allows me and Mike to be able to spend time teaching our officials as well as spend time with them prior to our training camp and season which is invaluable.”

From the ECHL:

Debuting in 1988 with four teams, the NHL Prospects Tournament has expanded to now include eight clubs – Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. 

Teams will play each team in their division in a round-robin format on Friday, Saturday and Monday before a crossover on Tuesday capped off with the first-place finishers in each division meeting in the championship game for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup.

This year’s Traverse City Tournament will be streamed live on the FOX Sports Go app and DetroitRedWings.com. 

Users in the United States can download the FOX Sports Go app and stream every game of the tournament for free, regardless of cable or satellite provider. All games will also be carried live on DetroitRedWings.com with no geographic restrictions.

 

 

The action kicks off Friday, September 16, with the championship trophy handed out on Monday.  Best of luck to all the players and officials!