MJHL's two-ref system hailed

Press Release

The MJHL is adding more consistency to the league by following in the footsteps of other leagues and adopting the four man officiating system.

Director of Officiating, Jody Wielgosh says that the MJHL recognized that this system has been very effective in leagues such as the NHL and more recently, the SJHL.

“It was necessary because the game has changed so much in the past five years,” Wielgosh explains.

“The reality is that there are things being done behind the play that aren’t being seen...so this system will eliminate infractions behind the play.”

With more eyes on the ice, it may be easy to assume that an increase in penalties may accompany this new rule change; something that Wielgosh says is not the case.

“Maybe at the start there will be more [as players get used to the changes], but they will quickly learn that they can’t do some things that they’d normally get away with.”

Laury Ryan, President of the SJHL, who implemented the two-ref rule this past season, agrees that players will be quick to catch on.



“The game becomes more disciplined and we catch more stuff that was not caught before” says Ryan.

“The reality is that we have really smart players who learn what they can and can’t do. They’ve adjusted quickly, so there’s been a decrease in fouls.”

While there is not much teams can do to prepare for this rule change, Wielgosh notes that they “should be aware that there’s an extra set of eyes.”

“There will always be people who try and push the envelope,” he says.

“But with the unnecessary behind the play stuff being out now, the biggest changes in the game will be that skilled players can show their abilities on a regular basis.”

“Players are the quickest to adapt,” agrees Ryan.

“They catch on the quickest and make it work the best. We found that the people who had the toughest time changing were the adults...the players will catch on.”

The MJHL will be using this new four man officiating system in only 100 of the 330 league games in the 2010-2011 season, but deciding which games will be affected has been a fairly straight-forward task.

“What we’ve committed to do is that every arena will see it twice,” says Wielgosh.

“Some teams may see it more than others, but it will mainly depend on the availability of the officials.”

As MJHL officials often move between different leagues (CIS, Moose, MMJHL), Wielgosh stresses the importance of not putting a strain on the officials.

He explains that, “really busy times like Friday and Saturday nights are likely not going to be seeing this new system...it’ll mainly be used in games during the week.”

“We have to be careful not to schedule on nights that will leave the other leagues short.”

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)