The International Ice Hockey Federation has selected the 32 on-ice officials who will be working the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. This year’s tournament, which runs from May 12-28, will be held in Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia.
“Selecting top game officials for an IIHF event is a long-term process,” said Marta Zawadzka, Chairperson of the IIHF Officiating Committee. “Our focus is on transparent cooperation with the federations’ referees-in-chief and evaluation until the very possible end of the respective league playoffs. We are very confident that the strong season performance of the selected team of officials will be reflected in the tournament in Riga and Tampere.”
Here are the referees and linesmen for the 2023 IIHF World Championship:
Referees
Andris Ansons #21 (Latvia)
Tobias Bjork #25 (Sweden)
Adam Bloski #16 (Canada)
Sean Fernandez #19 (USA)
Mads Frandsen #37 (Denmark)
Lassi Heikkinen #29 (Finland)
Christoffer Holm #23 (Sweden)
Jan Hribik #22 (Czechia)
Stefan Huerlimann #13 (Switzerland)
Sirko Hunnius #15 (Germany)
Mikko Kaukokari #27 (Finland)
Mike Langin #18 (Canada)
Sean MacFarlane #11 (USA)
Andre Schrader #35 (Germany)
Liam Sewell #17 (Great Britain)
Miroslav Stolc #40 (Switzerland)
Linesmen
Nick Briganti #52 (USA)
Eric Cattaneo #57 (Switzerland)
Nicolas Constantineau #62 (France)
Jake Davis #61 (USA)
Onni Hautamaki #59 (Finland)
Andreas Hofer #58 (Germany)
Daniel Hynek #64 (Czechia)
Andreas Kroyer #56 (Denmark)
Brett Mackey #78 (Canada)
Tommi Niittyla #63 (Finland)
David Nothegger #71 (Austria)
Jiri Ondracek #50 (Czechia)
Simon Synek #51 (Slovakia)
Tarrington Wyonzek #80 (Canada)
Emil Yletyinen #68 (Sweden)
Davis Zunde #55 (Latvia)
This year’s contingent represents twelve different countries. Canada, Finland, and USA have four officials; followed by three each for Czechia, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland; Denmark with two; and one from Austria, France, Great Britain, Latvia, and Slovakia.
The nominations, made by the IIHF Officiating Committee, have been approved by the IIHF Council to confirm the officials’ selection for this year’s tournament. The on-ice officials have been selected based on their performances in their leagues, per the IIHF.
Twenty-seven of this year’s officials have previously worked an IIHF World Championship, including four who have handled a Gold Medal Game: Tobias Bjork, Andre Schrader, Nick Briganti, and Simon Synek. Of the thirteen first-timers, ten have taken the ice in the past at the World Juniors.
“As all the international leagues played their games with no interruptions, we are sure that this group is ready and motivated to work as a team, along with the coaches and staff, in the environment that the IIHF creates for them at a top-level event,” Zawadzka added.
Officiating coaches include Vladimir Sindler (CZE), Tomas Karl Torsbrink (SWE), Masi Uolakka (FIN), and Scott Zelkin (USA). Lukas Jankovic (CZE), Kriss Kupcus (LAT), Jere Lahti (FIN), Christer Larking (SWE), and Flavio Nodari (SUI) will support as officiating video coaches.
The tournament gets under way on May 12, with the Gold Medal Game slated for May 28.
Congratulations to the referees and linesmen selected to work this year’s IIHF World Championship.
For a look at what goes on behind the scenes in the World Championship, here’s a look back from last year:
