I am Rob Archambault; however most in the hockey world would know me by 'Archie'. I have been a registered member of Hockey Canada for over 29 years, of which I was an active on-ice official for 25 years. I spent 13 years (12 ½ depending who you talk to), as a linesman in the Western Hockey League (WHL).
In my WHL career I was fortunate enough to work four WHL League Championship series, 9 Conference Finals series, and several nationally and locally televised games. I only missed the play-offs twice in my career. In those 13 years in the WHL I worked with some of the top Referee's and Linesman in world, many of whom have gone on to make full-time careers out of officiating by joining the National Hockey League Officials Association (NHLOA) and the staff of the National Hockey League (NHL) on-ice officials.
My work with the WHL allowed me the opportunity to work preseason training camp games for the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and exhibition games between their respective American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates.
During my amateur hockey career I have also worked the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CSI) Men's Hockey League, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conferences (ACAC) Men's Hockey League, the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), and other high level amateur leagues in Alberta. I worked the CIS Western Conference Finals, the ACAC Men's Hockey League Championship series, the AJHL Championship Finals and the Doyle Cup. I have had the good fortune of working international games including an exhibition game against Team Norway and Team Canada Men's hockey.
My on ice resume speaks for itself, however to add to this I have also been an instructor for Hockey Alberta and BC Hockey as well as a coach/supervisor for on-ice officials. I have worked as a game supervisor for the AJHL as well as the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), where my role was to assist in the development of up and coming officials.
My intention for this blog is to be an information source for up and coming officials where I will share my knowledge, and the knowledge of others, to help further your career or understanding of the finer points of being an on-ice official in one of the most demanding sports to officiate in the world. I will use my knowledge of the game, but also aspects of the game that are not taught in classrooms, so as to further your understanding of what elite and top line officials go through in their development as well as in their growth as officials. For the casual reader I will also try to give you a bit of a behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a referee/linesman and what it takes to be at a very high level in a sport that is routed in the Canadian culture and for which we as a country are passionate about.
If you ask Canadian's to define themselves, many will say 'Hockey'. If you ask most Canadians where they were February 28th, 2010 they will likely tell you they were watching Canada's best beat the USA in the Olympic Gold Medal game for Hockey. For Canada, hockey is not a game, it is a national religion, it is a tie that binds East and West, English and French, it is the very fabric of Canada!
