NHL brings officiating lessons abroad at 2024 European Summer Exposure Combine

Peter Gebei said he’s living vicariously through the referees and linesmen who recently attended the 2024 European Summer Exposure Combine supported by the NHL in Budapest, Hungary.

“It was my dream, going to the NHL,” said Gebei, the 48-year-old referee in chief for the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation and a driving force in the creation of the camp. “I’m too old now. But everybody in the camp, every morning worked hard, full focus all the time. Everybody (was) feeling the dream, feeling the NHL.”

Nearly 60 top-level officials from 17 countries participated in the July 3-6 Budapest combine where they received instruction on a wide range of officiating topics including rules interpretation, positioning, communication and game management.

The lessons were taught by top NHL and International Ice Hockey Federation officials: Stephen Walkom, NHL Executive Vice President and Director of Officiating; Al Kimmel, NHL Director of Scouting and Development; Mike Leggo, NHL Scouting and Development Officiating Manager; Dave Smith, former NHL Director of Fitness for Game Officials and currently a consultant to the League; Chris Edwards, NHL Scouting and Development Officiating Manager; Tom Masters, NHL Director of Video Operations; and Gebei, an IIHF officiating coach who has officiated in leagues in Europe and Russia.

“The talent level was impressive,” Leggo said. “Lots of good skaters, lots of people who were eager. We had classroom sessions and on-ice sessions, and we also played games and watched them referee, pretty much similar to our combine in Buffalo.

“We were not only able to kind of do the philosophy of officiating, but we also gave them the nuts and bolts while we saw them on the ice regarding positioning and how to comport themselves and communication. I think they appreciated that the most, learning from our NHL videos, our NHL system, our NHL communication methods and how we think.”

Leggo said the League’s role in the European combine is part of its efforts to grow the game and enhance the level of officiating globally at a time of increasing intersectionality between the NHL and the international hockey community.

NHL players will participate in the 2026 Milano Olympics and four teams will travel abroad for the 2024 NHL Global Series.

The New Jersey Devils will face the Buffalo Sabres to begin the 2024-25 regular season in Prague at O2 Arena on Oct. 4 and 5 and the Dallas Stars will play the Florida Panthers in Tampere, Finland, at Nokia Arena on Nov. 1 and 2.

Before their game in Prague, the Sabres will play Red Bull Munich on Sept. 27 at SAP Garden in Munich. That contest will have an NHL and international officiating crew.

“I think the combine expands our base of knowledge and identifies potential officials for events like that,” Leggo said. “And it also gives those European officials an opportunity to be exposed to us and our expectations and our level of professionalism.”

This was the second European officiating combine. About 55 officials participated in the inaugural camp last year. Three officials from that camp were invited to attend the 2023 NHL Exposure Combine at HarborCenter in Buffalo.

The annual four-day combine seeks to expose players who have NCAA Division I and III, Canadian college or other amateur hockey experience to the world of officiating.

Three referees from this year’s European combine will attend the 2024 exposure camp in Buffalo Aug. 15-18: Caroline Butt from Germany; Cyril Debuche from France; and Gergely Gebei, Peter Gebei’s son, from Hungary.

It’s the type of international exchange program that Peter Gebei envisioned when he first approached the NHL via email four years ago about the idea of supporting a European officiating combine.

Gebei said his desire for the combine increased after he visited the exposure camp in Buffalo in 2022.

“It was like Christmas, it was the best time of my life,” he said. “In Europe we don’t have a combine or camp in summertime, we just have a normal officiating camp before the season. In Buffalo, I asked Stephen Walkom and the guys in the NHL is it possible to come to Europe (and) organize a summer combine.

“That dream came true."