h-officials

Welcome to the Vancouver Thunderbirds Hockey Officiating page!

Mission Statement:

In conjunction with Hockey Canada, BC Hockey and Vancouver Thunderbirds Hockey’s commitment to “Fun, fair play for all”, the officials of Vancouver Thunderbirds Hockey are dedicated to ensuring that the sport of hockey is both “safe” and “fair”.

Our Officiating Development Program

For the past several years, Vancouver Thunderbirds Hockey has been a leader in its decision to fully support the development of brand new, young and more experienced officials by providing the necessary knowledge and skills needed to become better, capable, confident officials. The creation of a supervision and shadowing program, in combination with on-ice clinics held throughout the year for officials of varying years of experience has helped achieve such a goal.  The Development Team is made up of officials with various levels and years of officiating experience, ranging from the WHL, Junior A & B, as well as younger officials who have a keen passion and exemplify the role of officiating. Several of our officials have been recognized for their excellence nationally, provincially, and locally.

Annual Events

The Officiating Program hosts various events throughout the year, both in the spirit of community and team building, but also in keeping with the idea that exposure to excellent standards of officiating contributes to the overall development of officials. One such event is a night for new officials to "supervise" and grade more experienced officials at a Midget A game. Other events include virtual gatherings to observe high level professional officiating, and potential to attend a WHL or AHL game.

Officiating Development Sessions

Our development program offers weekly on-ice development sessions aimed at helping our officials develop their skill, comfort, and passion on the ice. First year officials are required to attend at least two of these sessions before being eligible to be assigned games.