Swede Marcus Vinnerborg to become first European referee in NHL this week

ZURICH - Marcus Vinnerborg is set to become the first European referee to work an NHL game.

The International Ice Hocky Federation says the Swede has been assigned to work two games this week—Anaheim at Dallas on Tuesday and San Jose at Colorado on Wednesday.

Vinnerborg was hired over the summer to work games primarily in the American Hockey League while getting some work in the NHL.

Until now, he'd only been doing AHL games.

Vinnerborg previously worked in the Swedish Elite League and has handled a number of major international assignments, including the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.