Chasing a ‘total dream’: Prospect Showcase provides a path for women officials to pursue NHL

During the same weekend in which dozens of prospects will flood AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, Florida for the 2025 NHL Prospect Tournament to continue pursuing lifelong aspirations, another duo will do so in a different capacity.

And for them, this is a path with trailblazing potential.

Ashley Johnston and Sydney Harris will be among the officials working this year’s prospect tournament, and both are in the running to become the first woman in NHL history to officiate a regular season game.

“I’ve always said, anytime you can have a job where you’re on the ice—playing, officiating—being on the ice full-time is a pretty incredible job,” Johnston said. “Obviously my playing days are done, and this is truly the next best thing, and it's a part that continuously attracts me to reffing is when you get in that game it's such a similar feeling as when you're playing. It’s such a joy to be able to experience that.”

Johnston and Harris both received invites to work this week’s prospect tournament after attending the NHL Exposure Combine, a four-day event hosted by the league each year which aims to recruit and develop future officials.

They will work this week’s games between NHL prospects from the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes in a tournament which begins on Friday at 2 p.m. between Carolina and Florida and continues with a 5 p.m. game between Tampa Bay and Nashville.

Hockey has always been a central focus for both Johnston and Harris.

Johnston played college hockey at Union College and then played for the Metropolitan Riveters in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), the first North American women's professional league to pay its players. She coached last season at Colby College and is currently enrolled in medical school while also officiating.

The Burlington, Ontario, native has officiated for two full seasons mainly at the college level but took last season off following hip surgery.

“I appreciate so much more good officials, like those who show up and care,” she said. “You see right away the people who care about what they’re doing, and I’ve definitely gained a lot more appreciation for that as well as the grind that a lot of officials go through if they’re not officiating professionally full-time to be able to stay involved and work high-level hockey while also balancing life or a full-time career.”

Harris, a native of Pueblo, Colorado, played college hockey at Elmira College and had aspirations of playing professionally before a knee injury required her to take time off. Since she could still skate without contact, she began officiating to stay in skating shape and rehabilitate.

"It felt like a good way to rehab and be on the ice, and then I kind of had a moment where I was just like, 'I don't know. Maybe it's the universe telling me it's time to move on to something else in my life rather than go to Europe and play pro hockey.’…So I ended up at the NHL exposure combine, and the next thing you know, I was full time officiating,” Harris said.

Harris officiated last season in the PWHL, AHL, ECHL, BCHL and NCAA. She officiated every weekend from October through April while still pursuing a Master’s Degree in applied sports psychology.

This will be Harris’ second prospect showcase after she worked in Nashville last season. For her and Johnston, this week is about seeing dreams take another step—both for young hockey players and themselves in their chase of officiating in the NHL.

“That’s 100% the pipe dream,” Harris said of one day officiating an NHL game.

“I feel like the best part of coming to a rookie tournament is getting to see the players’ dreams essentially come true. It’s a very rewarding and very fulfilling experience. Even if maybe they hate us, or they think they hate us, it's fun to see them wear the official threads of whatever team has put them on a prospect list and just see them get to live that out. So that's honestly what I'm looking forward to the most.”

‘Dream’ is an appropriate word for Johnston, too.

“If you think about it from a players’ side, like, all these guys are so close to achieving that childhood dream, so intensity is going to be high in there, and they’re going to be giving it everything they have. And I think from the officiating side, it's very similar. Working in the NHL would be a total dream, and this is a step in that direction or a taste of what something like that might be like.”