Who would’ve ever guessed that the latest National Hockey League referees would have both come from the blueline of the 2012-13 Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League?
Defensemen-turned-referees Alex Lepkowski and Liam Maaskant will be joining the NHL Officiating team for the 2024-25 season.
Both officials played one season together in Barrie; they would reunite four years later to play four seasons together at Acadia University. Now they’ll reach the NHL in stripes.
Referee Alex Lepkowski #44
Lepkowski, 31, hails from Buffalo, New York. He was drafted by his hometown Sabres in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, going 137th overall, ahead of Andrew Shaw, Frank Corrado, Josh Manson, Laurent Brossoit, and Dylan DeMelo.
He spent five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, spending time with the Saginaw Spirit, Barrie Colts, and Oshawa Generals; Lepkowski was OHL teammates with current NHLers, Aaron Ekblad, Mark Schiefele, and Andrew Mangiapane. He played one season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans – alongside Brayden McNabb, Chad Ruhwedel, Joel Armia, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nicolas Deslauriers – before returning to the ECHL to suit up for the Greenville Road Warriors and Missouri (now Kansas City) Mavericks. Lepkowski headed to college, playing four seasons at Acadia before returning to the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies for his final professional season in 2020-21.
Lepkowski has officiated in the AHL, OHL, and USHL.
Referee Liam Maaskant #45
Liam Maaskant, 30, played four seasons in the OHL, skating with the Erie Otters, Barrie Colts and Kitchener Rangers, alongside Lepkowski, Ekblad, Schiefele, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Andreas Athanasiou. He then headed to Nova Scotia’s Acadia University to play five years with the Axemen.
Maaskant attended the NHL Officiating Combine in 2022, going on to don the stripes in the ECHL, AHL, and PWHL.
Congratulations to Alex Lepkowski and Liam Maaskant on joining the National Hockey League officiating team for the 2024-25 season.
