Committee is an experienced group of seven, co-chaired by Stacey Livingston and Jacqui Palm
BOSTON, MA – (November 25, 2022) – The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced the formation of a new Player Safety Committee for the 2022-23 season. The seven-member committee is co-chaired by Stacey Livingston and Jacqui Palm and is tasked with reviewing plays for potential supplemental discipline and serving as important resources to support PHF Hockey Operations.
“As two of the most experienced and respected leaders in the IIHF officiating community, Stacey Livingston and Jacqui Palm are world-class additions to the PHF in the important area of player safety,” said Lisa Haley, PHF Director of Hockey Operations. “The PHF is fortunate to have their leadership and the support of the entire Player Safety Committee to help develop the best and safest environment for PHF athletes and officials.”
Livingston and Palm have a wide range of experience and officiating leadership both on and off the ice with the IIHF including Olympics and World Championships, as well as various roles with USA Hockey and Hockey Canada respectively. Additional members of the PHF Player Safety Committee this season include Cindy Daley, Cassie Dunne, Alicia Hanrahan, Krissy Langley, and Vanessa Stratton.
“I am really excited to be part of the PHF again this season,” said Livingston, who served as the PHF’s Director of Officials during the 2022 Isobel Cup Playoffs. “The committee is focused on player safety and accountability in fair play, and we are fortunate to have great communication and interpretation with the league. The continued growth and gains of women’s hockey has been immense, and to be involved in its continued development is a privilege.”
This season, the PHF Player Safety Committee will review all reported major penalties, game misconducts, and match penalties as part of the PHF’s Player Safety Initiative. The committee will determine if additional sanctions are warranted in addition to the original infraction. Separate to committee review is the accumulation of penalties process used throughout the PHF season.
Accumulation of Major Penalties
- Two (2) major penalties: A written warning from the Player Safety Committee.
- Three (3) major penalties: One (1) game suspension.
- Four (4) major penalties: Two (2) game suspension and a fine assessed to the player’s team of five hundred dollars ($500 USD).
- Major penalties accumulating during playoffs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Accumulation of Major Plus Game Misconduct Penalties
- Two (2) major/game misconduct penalties: One (1) additional game suspension.
- Three (3) major/game misconduct penalties: Two (2) additional game suspension.
- Four (4) major/game misconduct penalties: Three (3) game suspension and a fine assessed to the player’s team of five hundred dollars ($500 USD).
Accumulation of Match Penalties
- Two (2) match penalties: Hearing with the PHF Player Safety Committee.
Teams may request that an incident from a game be reviewed for supplemental discipline by the Player Safety Committee when one of the following occurs during a PHF game:
- A violent/dangerous act resulting in serious injury accompanied with potential for significant lost playing time.
- Conduct of a player, coach, or team staff member that is considered to be egregious. Egregious is defined as an act that is glaring in its extreme nature, beyond any reasonable degree, and outside of the range of acceptable actions associated with the PHF.
- An act that meets the definition of Reckless Disregard has occurred. The PHF defines reckless disregard as an act or conduct that creates an unreasonable risk of physical harm to an opponent regardless of whether physical contact occurs, or intent can be established.
2022-23 PHF Player Safety Committee:
Stacey Livingston (Co-Chair)
Livingston has been involved with hockey for many years and played competitively at the University of Maine from 1991-95. She also started her love of coaching at UM and Colby College. Serving as an on-ice official for more than 25 years, Livingston officiated at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and was an officiating coach at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and again in 2022 in Beijing. She continues to be an officiating coach for USA Hockey and the IIHF. Livingston is married and has three children and lives in Fort Mill, SC.
Jacqui Palm (Co-Chair)
Palm began officiating in 1981 and served as a referee for Hockey Canada from 1998-2002. A highlight of her on-ice career was skating as a member of the officiating team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Following that experience, she joined Hockey Canada’s Officiating Committee and has been a supervisor and coach ever since. Palm has also served in supervisor and officiating staff roles with the IIHF since 2007, coaching events ranging from the Olympics to World Women’s Division III championships. She is currently the Head of Women’s Player Safety for OUA Women’s Hockey.
Cindy Daley
Daley has been involved in the sport of ice hockey in the Seattle, WA area for over 50 years as a player, coach, and administrator. As the head coach of the University of Washington men’s collegiate non-varsity team for six years, she spearheaded the training of Washington State’s USA Hockey officials in NCAA rules so they could officiate American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) men’s games. She also assisted in the formation of the ACHA national women’s division and was responsible for setting up the initial rules and serving as the Rules Committee Chair. For nearly 10 years, Daley served as a coach, coaching director, board member, and then president of the only girl’s hockey association in Washington State. At the same time, Daley served as the USA Hockey Washington State Female Director, and also served on the Pacific Northwest Amateur Hockey Association (PNAHA) Rules Committee. She currently works for Sound Transit as the manager of the IT Project Management Division.
Cassie Dunne
Dunne is from Philadelphia, PA and grew up playing hockey at Wissahickon Skating Club and the Princeton Tiger Lilies in New Jersey. She attended Penn State University and played on the Women’s Club Team and co-captained Team USA at the World University Games in Kazakhstan her senior year. After graduating, Dunne played two PHF seasons for the Connecticut Whale in 2017-18 and Metropolitan Riveters in 2019-20.
Alicia Hanrahan
Raised in Southern California, Hanrahan began officiating at the age of 28. Her 22-year officiating career includes nine years with the IIHF and a combined 19 years with the NCAA and at the professional level. She achieved the pinnacle of officiating for women, skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Hanrahan remains active with USA Hockey as an instructor, mentor, officiating coach and local assignor and is committed to creating the same opportunities afforded to her to younger officials. She has two white Labrador Retrievers, Maggie and Willy, and lives in Alexandria, MN with her life partner, Mike.
Krissy Langley
Langley has been involved in ice hockey her whole life. From skating with the boys until she was 14, to playing on the inaugural girls’ hockey team at Shattuck St. Mary’s, then playing NCAA Division I at Wayne State University. After a successful playing career, Langley leaned into officiating and has officiated at all levels of the game, including youth to the NCAA as well as professional and international levels. She is focused on supporting the officiating world as USA Hockey’s Referee in Chief of Female Development.
Vanessa Stratton
Stratton played U SPORTS hockey with the Brock Badgers from 2003-05, then transitioned to officiating. Her officiating journey included a career that spanned more than 10 National Championship events and seven international World Championships including multiple U18 Women’s Worlds and Women’s World Championships. In 2019, she decided to step off the ice and into a different position, taking on the role of Officiating Coach with Hockey Canada. In 2021, she was contracted by BC Hockey to take on the Female High Performance Officiating Lead role and provide oversight and development to the provincial high-performance female officials. Most recently in 2022, she was brought on by the IIHF to be an Officiating Coach and is excited to be back with the PHF this season as part of the Player Safety Committee.
About the Premier Hockey Federation
The PHF is the home of professional women’s hockey in North America. Established in 2015 as the National Women’s Hockey League, the NWHL rebranded to become the PHF in 2021 and provide opportunities for elite athletes to earn a living playing the game they love while fueling the continued growth of the sport. The league is made up of the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, Metropolitan Riveters, Minnesota Whitecaps, Montreal Force, and the Toronto Six who all compete annually for the Isobel Cup. As part of a two-year agreement with ESPN, live coverage of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 PHF seasons is available exclusively on ESPN+ in the United States, and provides international rights for games which includes TSN in Canada. For more information visit premierhockeyfederation.com.
