It’s not just the players that have to get ready for Year 2 of the PWHL

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Published Oct 17, 2024  •  3 minute read

Toronto's Sarah Nurse (20) is restrained by a referee after tangling with Montreal's Mariah Keopple. The Canadian Press

With training camps just over three weeks from opening Season 2 of the PWHL, preparations are underway across the league.

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Players are and have already been getting together for informal skates, management teams have been busy putting the finishing touches on their training rosters with invites to camp signed to push end-of-roster players to take that next step.

At the league office, there are all the usual T’s to cross and I’s to dot with venue contracts, schedules (finally), not to mention logos, team names and uniform unveils.

Almost lost in all that preparation is the retention and continued development of the league’s officials.

On that front, the PWHL had an outstanding off-season, bringing back every one of its 65 officials from a year ago.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT THE SAME OFFICIALS RETURN?

Anyone who watched the PWHL in its inaugural season came away surprised and mostly impressed with the amount of physical contact in the game.

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Again, for most, actual body contact in women’s hockey was mostly unseen until last season. Certainly, those that only took in women’s hockey during international tournaments were not accustomed to the kind of body contact that the PWHL allows.

But as with anything new, there is a learning curve and that line between what is a legal hit and what isn’t remains a moving target.

With time, there will be a universal understanding of what kind of hit is legal and what isn’t. The officials, though, need time and game action to establish that and that’s why it’s so important to retain the same group.

Even into the playoffs, there were players still unsure and questioning why certain contact was deemed within the rules and other similar actions resulted in a penalty.

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It got better as the year went on, but there still is a base line to be established there. Introducing new officials at this point would just push that target further down the road.

WHAT IS THE MAKEUP OF THE LEAGUE OFFICIALS?

The group consists of 65 officials, which includes 39 referees and 26 linespeople. Within the group there are 38 men and 27 women with a total of 27 U.S.-born officials and 38 Canadian-born officials.

They come from as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Halifax, and all points in between throughout North America.

There are a total of three Toronto-based officials among the 65 — Damian Figueira, Lacey Senuk and Adam Bennett.

WHAT IS THE LEAGUE SAYING ABOUT THE OFFICIALS?

“The PWHL is fortunate to have an experienced team of world-class officials who share our passion for growing the game and taking this league to new heights,” PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said. “Our officials did a tremendous job during the inaugural season, applying our innovative rule changes and allowing the players to showcase their speed and skill, while managing an elevated physical aspect of the game that promoted competitiveness without compromising player safety.”

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IS ANYTHING NEW WITH THE LEAGUE OFFICIALS?

There are no more pending innovative rule changes for Year 2, like the roundly applauded Jailbreak rule from Year 1 which allowed a penalized player out of the penalty box if a short-handed goal was scored, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be more in the future.

And while the makeup of the officiating staff returns intact, the officiating management staff has made a key addition with Katie Guay joining as associate director of officiating.

Guay has been in the game for 30 years and is coming off a two-year stint in the NHL, where she served as officiating manager.

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