While the playing rosters for the 2017 IIHF World Championships have not yet been finalized, the third team on the ice is set.

The IIHF has announced the referees and linesmen officiating this year’s World Championship in Cologne, Germany, and Paris, France.

Of those selected, 20 have previously worked an IIHF World Championship. Sixteen officials are returning from last season’s tournament, including Germany’s Daniel Piechaczek (9th IIHF WC), Swiss ref Tobias Wehrli (8th), and linesman Ivan Dedyulya (9th). Twelve – six referees and six linesmen – are working their first IIHF World Championship.

Referee Mark Lemelin, who worked 58 games in the NHL, is from Albuquerque, New Mexico, but relocated to Austria, where he referees in the EBEL. Referees Oliver Gouin, Brett Iverson, and Stephen Reneau, along with linesmen Jud Ritter and Brian Oliver, have all officiated in the AHL this season; Gouin, Reneau, and Ritter also work in the ECHL.  Czech linesman Libor Suchanek spent a short stint in the AHL in February.  Canada’s Nathan Vanoosten currently works the lines in the WHL.

Fans from Austria and the Netherlands won’t have teams to cheer for, as those two nations will not take part in the Worlds. They will have officials to support, though, with Lemelin and linesman Joep Leermakers representing their respective countries.

The full 2017 IIHF World Championship officiating roster:

Referees

Fonselius, Stefan (Finland)
Gofman, Roman (Russia)
Gouin, Oliver (Canada)
Hribik, Jan (Czech Republic)
Iverson, Brett (Canada)
Jerabek, Antonin (Czech Republic)
Kubus, Jozef (Slovakia)
Lemelin, Mark (Austria)
Linde, Marcus (Sweden)
Odins, Eduards (Latvia)
Ohlund, Linus (Sweden)
Piechaczek, Daniel (Germany)
Reneau, Stephen (USA)
Salonen, Anssi (Finland)
Stricker, Daniel (Switzerland)
Wehrli, Tobias (Switzerland)

Linesmen

Dedyulya, Ivan (Belarus)
Jensen, Rene (Denmark)
Kaderli, Roman (Switzerland)
Kohlmuller, Lukas (Germany)
Lazarev, Gleb (Russia)
Leermakers, Joep (Netherlands)
Lhotsky, Miroslav (Czech Republic)
Malmqvist, Andreas (Sweden)
Oliver, Brian (USA)
Otmakhov, Alexander (Russia)
Ritter, Judson (USA)
Sefcik, Peter (Slovakia)
Sormunen, Hannu (Finland)
Suchanek, Libor (Czech Republic)
Suominen, Sakari (Finland)
Vanoosten, Nathan (Canada)

 

The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship runs from May 5-21.   Congratulations to those selected.