King to work 700th career ECHL game on Friday

ECHL linesman Ray King will work his 700th career ECHL game on Friday in Toledo, Ohio as the Walleye host the Wheeling Nailers.

In his 18th season as an ECHL official, King worked his first game in the league in Johnstown in October 2000 along with referee Terry Wicklum and linesman Mike McDevitt. He was selected work the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game in Stockton as well as the 2008 Kelly Cup Finals. King was the 2010 recipient of the Ryan Birmingham Memorial Award for his contributions and dedication to the league officiating staff based on a vote of ECHL On-Ice Officials.

King becomes just the fourth linesman in the ECHL’s 30-year history to officiate at least 700 games, joining Norm Eberle, Brad Phillips and Terry Wicklum

“This is a very special accomplishment for Ray becoming only the fourth linesmen in league history to reach 700 games,” said ECHL Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst. “It speaks to the dedication, perseverance and commitment that Ray has for the ECHL and officiating.”

“I would like to thank Bryan Graham, for bringing me on staff, Joe Ernst and Brian McKenna for all of their hard work and dedication to helping the ECHL to be a great place for officials to develop and grow,” King said. “To all the officials and friends I've made over the years, I hope you have had as much fun as I have had. While the league has changed so much for the positive, officiating in the ECHL is still a challenge to the best officials and I have always enjoyed coming to the rink for every game. Thank you everyone.”

There are 31 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2017-18 with referees Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Tom Chmielewski, Ghislain Hebert, Jean Hebert, Marc Joannette, Trent Knorr, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Dean Morton, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Graham Skilliter, Justin St. Pierre and Ian Walsh, and linesmen Steve Barton, Ryan Daisy, Brandon Gawryletz, Matt MacPherson, Brian Mach, Bevin Mills, Kory Nagy, Tim Nowak, Bryan Pancich and Jay Sharrers.

About the ECHL

Began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 27 teams in 21 states and one Canadian province for its 30th season in 2017-18. There have been  who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including 17 who have made their NHL debuts in the 2017-18 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 31 NHL teams in 2017-18, marking the 21st consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook.