Officials
1994 Canada-USA invitational junior tournament in Mexico. The first female referee in Newfoundland and Labrador was Janet Reddy, who received her first national refereeing assignment for the female competition at the 1999 Canada Winter Games in Corner Brook. The arrival of the American Hockey League's St. John's Maple Leafs in 1990 necessitated local officials filling the linesman positions for the professional games. Local AHL linesmen included Gerard Hayes, Foster Williams, Tom Mercer, Kevin Penney, Jim Vail, Todd Strickland, Sean LeFresne, Ted Murphy and Joe Maynard. During the 1993-94 National Hockey League officials strike, Gerard Hayes refereed two American Hockey League games, thus becoming the first Newfoundlander to referee a professional hockey game. While these individuals served at the top of the officiating ladder, there were thousands of individuals who served at the local levels in the variety of capacities required to make referees and linesmen available to hockey leagues everywhere. The introduction of minor hockey programs in every area of the province created a demand for an exceptionally high number of qualified officials, and also generated the very large number of individuals who were qualified to call these games.