We miss the old days when the NHL allowed officials to have their names on the backs of their sweaters.
It’s important to know their names… and it’s important to pronounce them correctly.
All pronunciations provided by the National Hockey League with some light editing. We’ve made a few changes based on our experiences and personal verification, and simplified the guide to exclude some of the more common names whose pronunciation is already familiar to most.
Pronunciation key included at the end.
Here’s the updated pronunciation guide for the 2026-27 NHL officiating team:
Referees
| Cody | Beach | (BEECH) |
| Ben | Betker | (BEHT-kuhr) |
| Brandon | Blandina | (blan-DEE-nuh) |
| Riley | Brace | (BRAYS) |
| Jake | Brenk | (BREHNK) |
| Francis | Charron | (FRAN-sihs sha-RAHN) |
| Tom | Chmielewski | (shihm-ehl-ESS-kee) – that’s a silent ‘W’ there |
| Mitch | Dunning | (DUHN-ihng ) |
| Gord | Dwyer | (DWIGH-uhr) |
| Eric | Furlatt | (fur-LAHT) |
| Beau | Halkidis | (BOH hal-KEE-dihs) |
| Graedy | Hamilton | (GRAY-dee HAM-ihl-tuhn) |
| Trevor | Hanson | (HAN-suhn) |
| Jean | Hebert | (ZHAWN AY-bair) |
| Stephen | Hiff | HIHF |
| Nick | Isaacson | (IGH-zuhk-suhn) |
| Justin | Kea | (KEE-uh) |
| Frederick | L’Ecuyer | (LAY-KWEE-ay) |
| Pierre | Lambert | (pee-AIR lam-BAIR) |
| Alex | Lepkowski | (lehp-KOW-skee) |
| T.J. | Luxmore | (LUHX-mohr) |
| Liam | Maaskant | (MAS-KANT) |
| Peter | MacDougall | (mac-DOO-guhl) |
| Morgan | MacPhee | (mak-FEE) |
| Michael | Markovic | (MARK-oh-vitch) |
| Wes | McCauley | (muh-KAHL-ee) |
| Jon | McIsaac | (muhk-IGH-zihk) |
| Kendrick | Nicholson | (NIH-kuhl-suhn) |
| Dan | O’Rourke | (oh-ROHRK) |
| Brian | Pochmara | (pahk-MAHR-uh) |
| Garrett | Rank | (RANK) |
| Kyle | Rehman | (RAY-muhn) |
| Austin | Rook | (RUK) |
| Chris | Rooney | (ROO-nee) |
| Jordan | Samuels-Thomas | (SAM-yew-ehlz-TAH-muhs) |
| Carter | Sandlak | (SAND-lak) |
| Chris | Schlenker | (SHLEHNK-uhr) |
| Brandon | Schrader | (SHRAY-duhr) |
| Graham | Skilliter | (SKIHL-ih-tuhr) |
| Furman | South | (SOWTH) |
| Francois | St-Laurent | (frahn-SWAH SAINT-loh-RAHNT) |
| Michael | Sullivan | (SUHL-ih-vuhn) |
| Kelly | Sutherland | (SUH-thuhr-luhnd) |
| Corey | Syvret | (sih-VREHT) |
| Hayden | Verbeek | (vuhr-BEEK) |
Linespersons
| Shandor | Alphonso | (SHAN-dohr al-FAHN-so) |
| Caleb | Apperson | (KAY-ehb AP-uhr-suhn) |
| Tyson | Baker | (BAY-kuhr) |
| Devin | Berg | (BUHRG) |
| Dylan | Blujus | (BLOO-jus) |
| David | Brisebois | (BREEZ-bwah) |
| Scott | Cherrey | (CHEHR-ee) |
| Michel | Cormier | (mih-SHEHL KOHR-mee-ay) |
| Ryan | Daisy | (DAY-zee) |
| Jonathan | Deschamps | (day-SHAHMP) |
| Jeremy | Faucher | (FOH-shay) |
| Kyle | Flemington | (FLEHM-ihng-tuhn) |
| Julien | Fournier | (FOORN-yay) |
| Brandon | Gawryletz | (GAHR-lehtz) |
| Travis | Gawryletz | (GAHR-lehtz) |
| Ryan | Gibbons | (GIH-buhnz) |
| Brandon | Grillo | (GRIHL-oh) |
| Onni | Hautamäki | (AH-nee hah-tuh-MA-kee) |
| Tommy | Hughes | (HEWZ) |
| Ryan | Jackson | (JAK-suhn) |
| Dan | Kelly | (KEHL-ee) |
| Trent | Knorr | (K’NOHR) (The K is not silent) |
| Anthony | Lapointe | (LA POYNT) |
| Matt | MacPherson | (mak-FUR-suhn) |
| Joseph | Mahon | (ma-HAHN) |
| Jesse | Marquis | (mahr-KEE) |
| Chris | Martenet | (mar-teh-neht) |
| Kilian | McNamara | (MAK-nuh-mar-uh) |
| Bevan | Mills | (MIHLZ) |
| Kiel | Murchison | (KIGH-uhl MUHR-chih-suhn) |
| CJ | Murray | (MUHR-ree) |
| Jonny | Murray | (MUHR-ree) |
| Ben | O’Quinn | (oh-KWIHN) |
| Shawn | Oliver | (AH-lih-vuhr) |
| Mark | Shewchyk | (SHOO-chihk) |
| Andrew | Smith | (SMIHTH) |
| Libor | Suchanek | (LEE-bohr soo-CHAN-ehk) |
| James | Tobias | (toh-BIGH-uhs ) |
| Travis | Toomey | (TOO-mee) |
Pronunciation Key
| A | AY – long A as in mate A – short A as in cat AI – nasal A as in air AH – short A as in father AW – broad A as in talk |
| E | EE – long E as in meat EH – short E as in get UH – hollow E as in ‘the’ AY – French long E with acute accent as in passé IH – middle E as in pretty EW – diphthong as in few |
| I | IGH – long I as in time EE – French long I as in machine IH – short I as in pity |
| O | OH – long O as in note AH – short O as in hot AW – broad O as in fought OI – diphthong as in noise OO – long double OO as in fool U – short double O as in foot OW – dipthong as in how |
| U | EW – long U as in mule OO – long U as in rule U – middle U as in put UH – short U as in shut or hurt |
| Consonants | K – hard C as in cat S – soft C as in cease SH – soft CH as in machine CH – hard CH or TCH as in catch Z – hard S as in bells S – soft S as in sun G – hard G as in gang J – soft G as in general ZH – soft J as in French version of Joliet KH – guttural CH as in Scottish version of Loch |
