Five full-time NHL officials retired following the 2025-26 season: referees Chris Lee (#28) and Steve Kozari (#40), and linespersons Steve Barton (#59), Brad Kovachik (#71), and Bryan Pancich (#94). Between them, this quartet combined for more than 8,100 NHL games. Their departures opened five full-time slots on the NHL’s officiating roster – which have already been filled through the promotions of Beau Halkidis, Stephen Hiff, Dylan Blujus, and Jeremy Faucher, and the hiring of linesperson Anthony Lapointe.
Chris Lee | Referee #28
AGE 56 • SAINT JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK
1,562 REGULAR SEASON GAMES • 120 PLAYOFF GAMES
Lee wraps up a career that spanned twenty-seven seasons in the NHL, with 1,562 regular-season and 120 playoff games. He made his NHL debut on April 2, 2000, working the Islanders vs. Thrashers alongside Brad Watson, Lyle Seitz, and Tony Sericolo. He reached the 1,500-game milestone in October 2025. Lee’s final appearance came when the Kraken visited Tampa on March 26, 2026, where the Lightning honored him on the ice. He worked his last match alongside referee Frederick L’Ecuyer and linespersons Brad Kovachik and Steve Barton.
Big assignments included the 2015 NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, the Stadium Series games at Dodger Stadium (2014) and in Denver (2016), the Winter Classics at Citi Field (2018) and Target Field (2022), plus multiple Global Series and Premiere Series games overseas: Stockholm in 2019 and Munich and Prague in 2024.
Steve Kozari | Referee #40
AGE 53 • PENTICTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA
1,238 REGULAR SEASON GAMES • 153 PLAYOFF GAMES • 5 STANLEY CUP FINALS
Kozari patrolled the NHL ice for twenty-four NHL seasons, working 1,238 regular-season and 153 playoff games including five Stanley Cup Finals. His first NHL game was Predators vs. Blues on October 15, 2005; he was promoted full-time in 2007, reaching the 1000-game milestone in October 2021 (Oilers at Golden Knights).
Kozari’s five Finals appearances came in 2014, 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2024. The BC native worked Game 7 of the 2024 Final between the Oilers and Panthers alongside Dan O’Rourke. Other major assignments included the 2014 Heritage Classic, the 2016 Stadium Series, the 2020 Winter Classic, and the 2022 All-Star Game.
His officiating path started in minor hockey near his hometown of Penticton, moving to the BCHL, and then on to ten seasons in the WHL, where he was named the league’s top referee for 2002-03 and worked the 2003 Memorial Cup.
In April 2024, Kozari was stretchered off after a head-on collision with Tampa Bay’s Haydn Fleury but was back in the lineup for the playoffs two weeks later. His final game came later that year when he suited up for Capitals vs. Red Wings on December 29, 2024.
Kozari’s retirement allows the #40 to go back into the rotation for NHL officials on minor league contracts. The league previously reserved #40-49 for referees splitting time between the AHL and NHL. Kozari was allowed to keep his #40 throughout his NHL career, with the NHL offering up #39 to minor league officials when needed.
Steve Barton | Linesperson #59
AGE 54 • VANKLEEK HILL, ONTARIO
1,675 REGULAR SEASON GAMES • 157 PLAYOFF GAMES • 3 STANLEY CUP FINALS
Barton wraps up a twenty-six season NHL career that included 1,675 regular-season and 157 playoff games, with three trips to the Stanley Cup Final (2020, 2022, 2023). His first NHL game was November 1, 2000, a 1-1 tie between the Flyers and Devils; his final game was April 15, 2026, with the Stars visiting Buffalo, where he skated off alongside Wes McCauley, Chris Rooney, and Kyle Flemington, with retired referee Kevin Pollock on hand.
Barton picked up a whistle at 19 on a friend’s suggestion after playing for the inaugural Vankleek Hill Cougars Jr. C team, moving up to officiate in the OHL, ECHL, IHL, UHL, and AHL before earning an NHL minor-league deal in the summer of 2000 — choosing linesman over referee because he felt he was “too green to referee at the higher levels.”
Some of Barton’s big assignments included the 2015 Stadium Series at Levi’s Stadium, the 2016 Winter Classic, and the 2017 NHL100 Classic. He took his share of bumps along the way, getting stretchered off in Edmonton after a Connor McDavid collision in March of 2018, and sidelined by a dislocated kneecap and torn quad during the 2018 playoffs in Washington, while also delivering a few bums of his own, including this one on the Pens’ Avery Hayes. Dedicated and focused, Barton never let the play get in the way of making the call, even when he was sliding across the ice.
Brad Kovachik | Linesperson #71
AGE 55 • WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO
1,972 REGULAR SEASON GAMES • 200 PLAYOFF GAMES • 5 STANLEY CUP FINALS
Kovachik was on duty for thirty NHL seasons – the longest tenure of the five – with 1,972 regular-season and 200 playoff games, including five Stanley Cup Finals (2014, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023). His 1,972 games put him 10th on the all-time linesperson list. He debuted October 10, 1996 (Kings at Flyers — a 5-4 overtime game won on a Rod Brind’Amour goal), went full-time in 1997, and worked his 1,500th game in February 2019. His final game came with the Senators visiting Florida on March 31, 2026.
“It’s starting to sink in now,” Kovachik told the Woodstock Sentinel-Review earlier this year. “You go to different rinks and realize it’s the last time I’ll step into it. You walk into an arena and remember important games that stand out in your mind, and most are good memories.”
Kovachik started officiating at 12, working games at the old Perry Street Arena after playing junior hockey for the Woodstock Navy Vets. He spent three seasons in the OHL and worked the 1996 Memorial Cup final between the Granby Prédateurs and the Peterborough Petes before reaching the NHL.
Some of his major assignments included the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the original 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo, the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa, the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the 2017 Stadium Series, and the 2023 All-Star Game.
Former coach Ken Hitchcock called him “one of the best,” saying that “when he calls a game, you know it is going to be under control.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Kovachik is the only one of the five with a confirmed next chapter — he was named referee-in-chief of the Greater Ontario Hockey League in October 2025, overseeing officiating in the Ontario junior league.
“I’m very excited to join the GOHL,” Kovachik told the Penticton Herald. “I think they’ve really committed themselves to becoming the elite junior league. I’m looking forward to joining them and helping the officials any way I can.”
Bryan Pancich | Linesperson #94
AGE 43 • GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
978 REGULAR SEASON GAMES • 71 PLAYOFF GAMES
Pancic worked seventeen NHL seasons, with 978 regular-season and 71 playoff games. His NHL debut came on October 3, 2009, at Nationwide Arena, with his first playoff game four seasons later on April 17, 2014.
Pancich made history as the first official ever signed directly from USA Hockey’s Officiating Development Program and the USHL in 2009, joining after five straight AHL Calder Cup Finals (2005-09). Major assignments included the 2020 All-Star Game in St. Louis, the 2022 Global Series in Tampere, Finland, and the 2019 Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium. He also served as NHLOA Treasurer.
He’s also one of three Montanans to reach the NHL. Players Bill Lindsay (Bigfork, MT) and Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, MT) also hail from Big Sky Country.
In the 2025 playoffs, Pancich left Game 1 between the Wild and Golden Knights after a collision with Brett Howden. He did not return to the NHL after that injury.
Their five full-time slots opened the door for the next wave — and the next names are already in stripes. Read about the NHL’s 2026-27 promotions and new hires.
