Kendall Hanley (born ) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

official, currently serving as a linesman in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL). She was the recipient of

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

’s 2020–21 Ben Allison Award in recognition of her dedication on the ice and representation of USA Hockey in the finest manner, as voted by the 150 members of the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program. Hanley has officiated international tournaments hosted by the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF) and USA Hockey, and for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL), the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and h ...

(PHF; previously NWHL), the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

(WCHA), and a number of other leagues in North America. A former

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

player, she played as a

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

with the

Elmira Soaring Eagles Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York. Founded as a college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men. Elmira College became coeducational in ...

women's ice hockey program during 2005 to 2007, and as a forward with the SUNY-Oswego Lakers women's ice hockey program during 2007 to 2009.

Officiating career

Hanley became interested in officiating following her 2009 graduation from the State University of New York at Oswego with a degree in

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

. She was searching for a way to remain actively involved in the ice hockey community while living in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

during an internship with the

Dallas Zoo Dallas Zoo aka Dallas Zoological Park is a zoo located south of downtown Dallas, Texas, in Marsalis Park. Established in 1888, it is the oldest and largest zoological park in Texas and is managed by the non-profit Dallas Zoological Society. It ...

when she met a female official during a local pickup game and, as she described in 2019, “… just listened to her when she told me what eing a refereewas all about. I fell in love with it.” By 2013, Hanley had advanced to officiating national and international tournaments hosted by USA Hockey, including the 2013 Four Nations Cup and the 2014 Tier II Girls National Tournament. During September 7 through 10, 2019, Hanley became one of four women to officiate at the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

level for the first time, working in an NHL Prospect Tournament hosted by the Detroit Red Wings in

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population wa ...

. Hanley served as a linesman alongside Kirsten Welsh and referees Kelly Cooke and Katie Guay in the Elite Women's 3-on-3 event at the

2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game The 2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on January 25, 2020, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the St. Louis Blues. The city previously hosted the NHL All-Star Game in 1970 and 1988 at the former St. Lou ...

at Enterprise Center in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Also in 2020, Hanley served as a linesman at the 2020 IIHF Women's U18 World Championship, joining Cooke as the only American officials at the tournament, and officiated the bronze medal game, a 6–1 victory by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

over

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Hanley was one of ten women comprising the all-female officiating staff of the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

(NWHL) for the 2021 NWHL season. In August 2021, she served as a linesman for the

2021 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which was contested in Calgary, Alberta, from 20 to 31 August 2021, at WinSport Arena. It was origi ...

, serving in the bronze medal game – a 3–1 victory for over .

References

External links

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Kendall Hanley
at USCHO.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanley, Kendall Living people 1987 births People from Raleigh, North Carolina Ice hockey people from North Carolina American ice hockey officials American women's ice hockey players National Hockey League officials State University of New York at Oswego alumni Elmira College alumni Williston Northampton School alumni