Officials named for 2025 Warrior ECHL Hockey Heritage Classic

The ECHL announced on Thursday that Austin O’Rourke and Rocco Stachowiak have been selected as the referees and Chad Fuller and Matthew Heinen have been chosen to be the linespeople for the 2025 Warrior/ECHL Hockey Heritage Classic presented by Discover! Kalamazoo and Firekeepers, on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
 
“We’re proud to announce the four officials selected to work the ECHL Hockey Heritage Game in Kalamazoo,” said ECHL Director of Officiating Operations Riley Yerkovich. “Their selection is a reflection of their hard work, professionalism and commitment to excellence in officiating. This honor is well-deserved, and we congratulate them on this achievement.”
 
O’Rourke was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, raised in Atlanta, and currently resides in Boston, with wife Arianna, and daughter, Stella. He started officiating after playing college hockey and graduating in three years at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He began by officiating in the USA Hockey Officials Development Program. After one season in the program, he made the jump to professional hockey working the past three seasons in the ECHL. O’Rourke had the opportunity to officiate the 2022 NA3HL Fraser Cup Final, 2022 North American Hockeyr League Robertson Cup Final, 2022 Five Nations Tournament, and the 2024 Kelly Cup Finals.
 
Stachowiak, born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, started officiating at the age of 12 years old. After his playing career was over, he decided to pursue the path of officiating. His career started in the Officiating Development Program where he started as a linesman. After six seasons of working his way from junior hockey to professional, he made the switch to a referee. He worked his way back through the junior program and has now worked four seasons in the ECHL. Stachowiak had the opportunity to skate the 2022 Bio Steel All American Game as well as work the 2020-21 and 2021-22 Clark Cup Finals in the United States Hockey League. His biggest accomplishment to this point was working the 2024 Kelly Cup Finals.
 
Fuller was born and raised in Detroit and graduated from Wayne State University. Prior to joining the ECHL, he was selected work the Robertson Cup Final, the USHL Top Prospects Game, the 2018 Clark Cup Finals and the 2019 Top Prospects Tournament. He has been selected to work each of the last two Kelly Cup Finals.
 
Heinen, from Minnetonka, Minnesota, is in his fifth season with the ECHL. His time with the ECHL includes Conference Finals appearances in 2022, 2023 and 2024, earning a spot in the Kelly Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024. He is also a recipient of the ECHL’s Scholarship with Bellevue University where he is pursuing a master’s degree in data science. Heinen joined the ECHL in January 2021 from the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program where he worked the 2021 Clark Cup Finals. In addition to his tenure with the ECHL, he is also in his third season with the American Hockey League and International Ice Hockey Federation.

There are 38 former ECHL officials who are working as part of the NHL officiating team in 2024-25 with referees Riley Brace, Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Tom Chmielewski, Mitch Dunning, Trevor Hanson, Beau Halkidis, Ghislain Hebert, Jean Hebert, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Liam Maaskant, Peter MacDougall, Morgan MacPhee, Michael Markovic, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Carter Sandlak, Graham Skilliter and Furman South and linesmen Steve Barton, Ryan Daisy, Julien Fournier, Brandon Gawryletz, Brandon Grillo, Mitchell Hunt, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson, Jesse Marquis, Kilian McNamara, Bevin Mills, C.J. Murray, Ben O’Quinn and Bryan Pancich.
 
Forty-five of the 88 referees working in the American Hockey League, came from the ECHL, while 82 of the 146 linespeople in the AHL have worked games in the ECHL.
 
The 2025 Warrior/ECHL Hockey Heritage Week presented by Discover! Kalamazoo and Firekeepers will include the induction of the 17th class into the ECHL Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 17, and the Hockey Heritage Game at Wings Event Center on Saturday, Jan. 18 between the Toledo Walleye and Kalamazoo Wings.
 
Fan Fest, presented by Discover! Kalamazoo and Firekeepers will feature interactive games, player autographs and balloon animals, will take place at Wings Event Center beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 18. An open skate will also take place from 2:00-6:00 p.m. A ticket for the Toledo vs. Kalamazoo Hockey Heritage Game on Jan. 18 is required to gain entry to Fan Fest. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.
 
About the ECHL

Formed in 1988-89 with five teams in four states, the ECHL has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 28 teams in 20 states and two Canadian provinces for its 36th season in 2023-24. There have been 756 players who have gone on to play in the National Hockey League after starting their careers in the ECHL, including four who have made their NHL debuts in the 2024-25 season. The ECHL has affiliations with 29 of the 32 NHL teams in 2024-25, marking the 28th consecutive season that the league has affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com.