from Scouting The Refs,

NHL Referees and Linesmen reported for duty earlier this week, with 20 officials arriving at each of the hub cities on Tuesday.

Though there’s no formal training camp for officials, the league is taking advantage of the dual-centralization to pull together the stripes in each city.

“Normally they don’t get together in the playoffs other than with the people they work with,” said NHL Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom, during a league update on Friday afternoon. “It’s a bit of a luxury that we have 20 officials in each hub city. From a team perspective, that’s a little different for them.”...

The officials – and players – may also have to get used to a new whistle. While the NHL is not moving to electronic whistles, they are going pea-less.

“We will be trying the Fox40 pea-less whistle,” Walkom advised, adding that the officials will be using them during today’s on-ice skate. “It has the right trill for the players and takes a lot less force to use.”

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