Travis Gawryletz is following in his older brother’s footsteps.  Brandon made his NHL debut in 2015, tonight, Travis works his first NHL game.

Gawryletz, wearing #67, will take the ice alongside linesman Michael Cormier and referees Ian Walsh and Brad Watson for tonight’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the San Jose Sharks.

Gawryletz, 31, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 8th round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He spent four years at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. He spent time in the minors, suiting up for the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals and Ontario Reign and the Lake Erie Monsters in the AHL. After two years in Europe, he returned to North America for one final season with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

After a lengthy playing career, Gawryletz made the jump to officiating full-time a few years back, working the lines in the WHL. He made his AHL debut last March.

 

From the NHLOA:

Gawryletz, a native of Trail, BC is a former Canadian professional hockey player. He was selected in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 8th round (#253 overall).

He skated in six different leagues (10 teams total) during his playing career. The former physical defenseman became in 2004 the first Trail Smoke Eaters from the BCHL to be selected at an NHL Entry Draft straight from the BCHL. He went on to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth for the following four seasons in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. From 2008 to 2014, he played in four different leagues; the ECHL (Elmira Jackals, Ontario Reign, Bakersfield Condors), the AHL (Lake Erie Monsters), the Czech Extraliga League (CZE) (HC Karlovy, HC Sparta Praha, HC Pardubice) and the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL) (Szekesfehervar).

Once his playing career came to a close in 2014 with the ECHL Bakersfield Condors, Gawryletz made the jump to officiating where he worked the Western Hockey League (WHL) for three seasons.

In his third season with the WHL, Gawryletz got a call up to suit up in his first American Hockey League in March 2017. He went on and signed an NHL minor league linesman contract the same summer (2017).

Travis has an older brother on the NHL Officiating staff, Brandon who joined the NHL in 2015. He is married to his wife Lori and calls Kelowna, BC home.

 

Congratulations to Travis on his first NHL game!