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

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.

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.

“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.”

Texans Planning Bigger Role for Nick Chubb

Expect to see some more Nick Chubb in the Houston Texans' offense after a solid Week 1 showing.

Following Houston's season opener loss vs. the LA Rams, 9-14, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was still impressed by what he saw from Chubb in his debut since signing in June. In all, Chubb finished with 13 carries for 60 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 yards a carry and leading the way in touches throughout the running back room.

And moving forward into the year, Ryans says he wants to lean on Chubb a bit more in the backfield.

"I think Chubb ran the ball really well," Ryans said in an interview with Texans Radio. "We tried to mix it up with the backs– got Woody some touches, Dameon [Pierce]– we're going to try to lean in with Chubb a little bit more."

"He deserves it. He’s shown that he continues to get better as the game went on. You saw him running stronger, finishing plays in a physical manner. So, we've got to get him going a little bit more, and I think he can really help us."

Chubb has seemingly made a super strong impression in the Texans' building since arriving on his one-year, $5 million deal in the offseason, and without Joe Mixon in the fold as he deals with a foot injury that has placed him on the Injured Reserve for at least the first four weeks of the year, the door has opened for Chubb to have some major responsibility in this scoring unit.

Chubb sits in the Texans' running back room alongside veteran Dameon Pierce, rookie Woody Marks, and team captain Dare Ogunbowale to share the workload with– certainly a group that faced a fair share of questions before the season, of just how the responsibilities would be divided in the backfield.

But, as Chubb continues to prove he's healthy from last season and the most productive guy in the room, Ryans clearly wants to get the ball in his hands in the run game while they deal with Mixon's absence– however long that may be– and bank on his physicality and consistent improvements to be a driving force in their work on the ground.

Chubb has reportedly been consistent and hard-working for the Texans dating back to training camp, has clear respect in the locker room from teammates and the coaching staff, and of course, has a proven track record in the league of being one of the better runners of the football in recent history while at his peak production.

That doesn't mean you won't see guys like Pierce, Marks, and Ogunbowale get some occasional reps their way as well, but if Ryans' comments prove true, we could very well be looking at the start of Chubb being a real bellcow in Houston.

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