Officials
It was under Bowe that a new program of rankings for officials came into the province in 1978. Bowe, Bill Abbott of St. John's, John Kelly of Labrador City, Gerald Hall of Lourdes and Gerard Hayes of St. John's rose to the highest level, six, under the program. Laurie Powers and Dewar Judson of Nova Scotia were brought into the province for the 1954 and 1955 provincial senior championships, working with local linesmen. The name of Herb Coultas should have a special place in hockey officiating within Newfoundland and Labrador. After an exceptional playing career early in the century, Coultas became a referee and records indicate that he was the man with the whistle for an extremely large number of important games in the 1920s and 1930s. W.J. Higgins, Edward "Key" Kennedy and Harold Gross were other early referees in the St. John's area. Higgins officiated games around 1910. It was in 1962 that Toronto Maple Leafs great Frank "King" Clancey was instructor for the first provincial officials' clinic featuring an instructor from outside the province. The clinic was held in Gander and attracted a very large number of officials from all over the province. Four officials from Newfoundland and Labrador have been recognized by being invited to call plays at the international level. Jim Vail was a linesman at the 1992 Asian Oceanic junior championship in Japan, and Ted Murphy was a linesman at the 2000 world junior D championship in Mexico. Joe Byrne officiated at the 1977 Isvestia tournament in Russia, and Gerard Hayes was a referee at a