The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are well under way. While the referees and linespersons rotate around across the matchups, each series is assigned a dedicated supervisor to help maintain continuity. 

Round 2 Series Supervisors:

  • Rod Pasma – Washington Capitals vs. Carolina Hurricanes
  • Kay Whitmore – Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers 
  • Don VanMassenhoven – Winnipeg Jets vs. Dallas Stars
  • Brad Watson – Vegas Golden Knights vs. Edmonton Oilers

What Exactly Do the Series Supervisors Do?

During each series, the supervisor works with the management of each team – including potentially the head coach and general manager –  to discuss and concerns they have with the officiating. The supervisor then meets with each night’s officials to go over concerns, tendencies, and things to watch for.

The series supervisor conducts game-day meetings with the officiating crew and acts as a liaison for team management and any concerns they might feel they need to express. The game-day meeting should not only provide the officials with an update on the previous games but to maintain a level of consistency in the way the games are called throughout the series, right through and including Game 7, if necessary. Part of the supervisor’s duties include evaluating the performance of each official that works in his series – Kerry Fraser, via TSN

“Usually for us, it’s just a quick conversation to make sure nothing is going on that we need to know about,” Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun last year. “If we have any complaints that are repeated, we can voice those concerns. Sometimes, as a series goes on, we may have some things that we want to bring up, but usually it’s pretty basic if the officials have been pretty good.”

Supervisor Meeting Notes

A few years back, Deadspin reported on what appeared to be meeting notes left in a hotel conference room from a supervisor’s briefing with the night’s on-ice officials prior to Game 4 between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

While we can’t verify the authenticity of these artifacts, they do appear to be in line with what would typically be included – and what had happened earlier in the series. 

The two teams combined for 52 penalty minutes over the first three games of the opening round series.  As expected, the focus was on having referees Francois St. Laurent and Kevin Pollock maintain the standard in calling penalties. In addition, the supervisor called out protection of goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury, including situations where a no-goal may also result in a penalty and the importance fot the officials be be able to explain the difference.

 

It appears the focus what to crack down on nonsense between the whistles, along with a heads up on the faceoff men and what appears to be increased intensity at the dot — particularly between the Rangers’ Dominic Moore and Maxim Lapierre of the Penguins. 

Icings also appear to have been rather competitive, with Game 4 linesmen Shane Heyer and Kiel Murchison encouraged to “be on our horse.” 

Again, we’re looking for cheap shots after the whistle, with the officials encouraged to be ‘really good during all stoppages’, ensure no additional skaters were on the ice during TV timeouts, and to “grab the cowboy who’s trying to take the law into his own hands!!”

 

While the referees and linespersons may change from game to game, the series supervisor will be there from Game 1 through Game 7  (* if applicable).