13 NHL officials named for Olympics

Seven National Hockey League referees and six NHL linesmen were named on Thursday to work at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next February.

The referees are Paul Devorski, Mark Joannette, Dennis LaRue, Bill McCreary, Dan O’Halloran, Chris Rooney and Brad Watson. The linesmen include Shane Heyer, Jean Morin, Brian Murphy, Thor Nelson, Tim Nowak and Jay Sharrers.

“We had to look at experience and every other element to come up with the numbers we were told we could utilize,” NHL Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating Terry Gregson told NHL.com.

Gregson said the selection process involved more than just determining who was doing the best job this season.

“It’s basically performance over a longer period of time,” he said. “What we looked at was performance from the last couple of years and also how they’ve been performing this fall. The guys who have worked the Stanley Cup Final over the last couple of years have certainly done a good job this fall and certainly put themselves to the head of the class.”

Gregson said the NHL officiating contingent will make up about half of the officials used at the Olympic tournament.

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