I think this topic belongs to here, because it is related to seven European countries, and I don't want to have more than one topic about this.
IIHF started this last season, and continue now. The amount of games is increased. Last year there was 20 games in each league with foreign referees, now 24.
Each of the seven nations in the program is represented by two referees:
Czech Republic: Milan Minar, Vladimir Sindler
Finland: Timo Favorin, Aleksi Rantala
Germany: Martin Reichert, Richard Schütz
Russia: Vyacheslav Bulanov, Alexander Polyakov
Slovakia: Peter Jonak, Juraj Konc
Sweden: Thomas Andersson, Markus Vinnerborg
Switzerland: Danny Kurmann, Brent Reiber
The referees work with local linesmen in foreign leagues.
What did the fans in other countries think about foreign refs last year. I saw three games, I think that none of them was doing bad job. Kurmann did great job in the game I saw (maybe best game by ref I saw in whole season)
And what about your local refs who are in the program. Are they top referees of the league?
About Finnish I would say that Favorin is along the best at the moment, while Rantala has been average so far. (well, he is only 27 so he could still work for 15 more years)
IIHF started this last season, and continue now. The amount of games is increased. Last year there was 20 games in each league with foreign referees, now 24.
Each of the seven nations in the program is represented by two referees:
Czech Republic: Milan Minar, Vladimir Sindler
Finland: Timo Favorin, Aleksi Rantala
Germany: Martin Reichert, Richard Schütz
Russia: Vyacheslav Bulanov, Alexander Polyakov
Slovakia: Peter Jonak, Juraj Konc
Sweden: Thomas Andersson, Markus Vinnerborg
Switzerland: Danny Kurmann, Brent Reiber
The referees work with local linesmen in foreign leagues.
What did the fans in other countries think about foreign refs last year. I saw three games, I think that none of them was doing bad job. Kurmann did great job in the game I saw (maybe best game by ref I saw in whole season)
And what about your local refs who are in the program. Are they top referees of the league?
About Finnish I would say that Favorin is along the best at the moment, while Rantala has been average so far. (well, he is only 27 so he could still work for 15 more years)