The IIHF recently announced eight Americans will don the stripes for the 2022 Winter Olympians, including Mankato native Andrew Bruggeman and St. Louis Park resident Kendall Hanley.
Bruggeman was the lone American chosen to serve as a referee on the men's side. A current ECHL and AHL referee, Bruggeman will be making his Olympic debut. He has officiated the IIHF World Junior Championship as well as the All-American Prospects Game (now the BioSteel All-American Game). Bruggeman graduated from Mankato West in 2009 and helped the Scarlets make their first ever MSHSL State Tournament appearance in 2008. Joining him as linespersons from the U.S. will be fellow AHL officials William Hancock II and Brian Oliver.
“What I look for in an official is to be humble and confident, and those kind of guys are hard to find,” said U.S. men's assistant coach, Mike Hastings told the Mankato Free Press. “I have a lot of respect for people who sign up for that because if you do your job, you go unnoticed and you’re not being told ‘thank you.’
“I like Andrew’s demeanor on the ice. He’s out there to do his job. When you get this opportunity and keep getting called back, you know he’s doing things the right way.”
Hanley was one of five American women chosen to officiate the women's tournament. Kelly Cooke and Chelsea Rapin were selected as referees, and Hanley will join Jacqueline Spresser and Sara Strong as linespersons. Hanley joined Cooke on the ice for the 2020 bronze medal game at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship and also served on the bronze medal crew at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Calgary.
Hanley has been a leader in women's officiating and is one of the first 10 women to officiate in the AHL this season. She told the Sun Sailor working the 2022 Winter Olympics will be, “an incredible honor. It’s a dream come true after starting down this path a little over 14 years ago with the end goal in sight and finally achieving this is very humbling. It's incredible."