David Taveroff honoured

Press Release

Hockey Canada is well aware of the contributions made by volunteers to the game of hockey. And it is for that reason that volunteers are honoured, as Hockey Canada hands out the hardware at its awards night as part of the Annual General Meeting.

Men and women from all regions of Canada are honoured for the time they put in to helping make hockey a great experience for everyone involved. Among them was David Taveroff. For more than 40 years, David Taveroff has dedicated himself to the game of hockey – not as a player or coach, but as one of the most respected officials in the game. As an official on the ice and supervisor and administrator off of it, David has seen and done it all in the game, earning himself this year’s Hockey Canada Officiating Award.

From the first time he stepped on the ice as a linesman in 1972, David quickly earned the trust and respect of those around him, taking over a referee-in-chief in the Town of Mount Royal just three years later. He held that position until 1983, when he moved up to become referee-in-chief of the Lac St-Louis region.

It was around this time that David began his career as a linesman in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, one that continues to this day and has included more than 1,000 regular season and playoff games. He also spent 13 years working games in the American Hockey League, and was selected to officiate at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden, allowing him a chance to work with and learn from some of the best officials in the game.

He sat on Hockey Quebec’s instructors committee from 1990 to 2005, has been a member of the organization’s officiating committee since 2005, and has been a part of Hockey Canada’s officiating development committee since the late 1990s, sharing his knowledge at a national level.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)