JOHNS ISLAND, SC - Chris Pitoscia, age 22, had a good 2009. December was especially good featuring two graduations. First he completed all of his graduation requirements at Montclair State University in New Jersey and was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health and Physical Education along with earning a Highly Certified Teaching Certificate in New Jersey for grades K-12. His second graduation involved moving to full time status with USA Hockey’s Officials Development program to pursue his other dream, refereeing professional hockey at the highest level possible.

The Edison, NJ product began officiating at age 12 in the New Jersey Hockey League working lower age group games. He moved to the Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League, an umbrella organization with teams in all age classification including Junior “B” and Tier Three Junior “A” teams, which stretches from  Florida to New Hampshire. Four years later, he was “discovered” by current NHL Referee Ian Walsh, a Philadelphia area native who was the first graduate out of USA Hockey’s ODP to make the National Hockey League.  

Walsh was helping instruct the 2005 Atlantic District Officiating Seminar when the then 16 year old Pitoscia was identified as one of the attendees having high potential. Walsh in turn, introduced Chris to Scott Brand, who is part of USA Hockey’s ODP leadership team and a day to day coordinator for the program.  Pitoscia eventually began a stint in the ODP on a part-time basis.  Last year he worked his first two games in the USHL around his college schedule.

New ice hockey officials generally work as both referees and linesmen as they start out. Once they start to work higher level games they must eventually choose or be steered towards a career track as either a referee or as a linesman.

There are opportunities to work high-level professional, international, collegiate and amateur hockey other than the NHL however, Pitoscia has identified working in the NHL as his long range goal.  All of USA Hockey’s officiating development program staff gave him the same advice however. Stay in school, get your degree and work your way up the ladder, as the program will wait, as you develop your educational foundation.  

This advice is practical. The NHL usually has only one or two openings on their staff each season. This year for example, they hired Francis Charron a referee who worked in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the ECHL and has lots of international experience and linesman Bryan Pancich from Billings Montana. Pancich, an ODP graduate, has worked five American Hockey League Calder Cup finals and has already worked a number of NHL game earlier this season.  Given the narrow funnel and the hundreds of officials in the US and Canada who aspire to work in the NHL, Pitoscia’s decision to finish college and then go full-time follows the recommended development pattern.       

The ODP has approximately 400 officials part of the program. About 70 of the officials are on a full-time basis. The program identifies promising referees and linesmen for development in a model similar to that used for players. It is not uncommon for the ODP staff to identify a 15 or 16 year old official working youth hockey and monitor and work with them over a number of years, eventually bringing some into the program full time once they complete school. 

Full time ODP participants are provided apartments in locations close to the leagues they will work. They share lodging with other aspiring zebras and work between 75-100 games in a season, across multiple levels of hockey, starting with top level youth, high school and junior games.

All of the 400-plus officials in the program do not aspire to the NHL but have other officiating goals such as working part-time in minor professional hockey, college games or international competition. Many of the more experienced officials, who are part of the program, are great mentors and coaches for younger officials they work with, who may have aspirations to officiate full-time as a career.

Scott Bokal, one such veteran, is a business owner from the St Louis, MO area. He still finds time to work various junior league games as well as skating in the International Hockey League and the American Hockey League. Bokal will represent USA Hockey as an on-ice official at the April 2010 Men’s World Championships U-18 in Poland. Experienced officials such as Bokal add great value to the ODP and other members of the ODP 

Officials who are full-time in the program, usually stay in the cadre between two and four year years.  Dependent on their performance they move on hopefully, up the ladder of professional, international or collegiate hockey or transition out of the full-time slots to make room for the next wave.

The development model is illustrated by Pitoscia and Chris Marouelli, now age 24 and in his third year in the ODP.  Marouelli, also a referee, worked his first professional hockey game in the Southern professional Hockey League early last season.  Previously, Marouelli had been assigned almost exclusively to junior games in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League, the Central States Hockey League, the Tier Two North American League Junior League and the Tier One United States Hockey League.

This season Marouelli’s schedule has expanded to include games at one of the NHL’s preseason rookie player camps, and regular season games in the USHL, Southern Professional Hockey League, the International Hockey League and the ECHL. He is also working games in the Western Hockey League one of Canada’s major junior leagues.

If the opportunities exist and Marouelli’s evaluations warrant, he will move to one of the minor pro leagues on a full-time basis next year or otherwise transition out of the ODP slot. Turnover through departure or promotion from the program by some of the full-time ODP referees and linemen after each season opens slots for the next wave of aspirants such as Pitoscia.  

Pitoscia can expect to travel over 40,000 miles in a season and get the chance to work before 3,000 to 5,000 fans on a routine basis in the United States Hockey League the only Tier One Junior League in the US. He may travel as far as  Alaska working in the North American Hockey League, the only Tier Two Junior League sanctioned by USA Hockey. If this experience works out, at some time in the future he could find himself working in the SPHL gaining his first pro experience.

Importantly, he will be responsible for managing himself and developing the required maturity to both officiate and get along with coaches, team administrators, his roommates and fans.  He will have to make travel arrangements, get to assignments on time, respond to regular on line examinations, study game videos, attend in-season training sessions and take advantage of in-season power skating lessons, gym memberships and the critiques he will receive from USA Hockey supervisors and coaches. During the off-season, he will be nearly as busy attending camps, learning rule changes and importantly, working on his skating and building stamina and strength in a required off-season conditioning program. Oh by the way, he must also maintain the required CPEs to retain his teaching certification.

In turn, his development will be tracked closely by the ODP staff and he will be given game experience, supervision, training and development to help with his advancement. The ODP supplies the experience and opportunity while the officials must supply the desire and personal commitment.  A number of current and former NHL officials and some of the top Amateur and minor pro officials in the US provide periodic game supervision or act as instructors for program participants at USA Hockey sponsored development camps in the off-season.  

Kevin Collins, Chris Ciamaga, Mark Faucette, Ian Walsh and Scott Zelkin with experience as on-ice officials in the National Hockey League and other former professional and top level amateur officials such as Dave LaBuda USA Hockey’s Referee-in-Chief and Greg Yerage who worked in the Central Hockey League provide coaching and mentoring to program participants throughout the year. David Banfield one of the NHL’s Officiating supervisors and other supervisors from USA Hockey, the SPHL, CHL, ECHL and AHL also evaluate program participants.   

Last year the program graduated Pancich to the NHL and 11 officials accepted full-time positions with the ECHL and Central Hockey League.  Tim Mayer ( Okemos, MI); JM McNulty ( Huntington Beach, CA); Nick Krebsbach ( Minot, ND); and Jim Scarpace ( Detroit, MI) all moved to the ECHL. In addition Dan Dreger ( Denver, CO); Justin Greene ( Plymouth, MA); Ryan Hersey ( San Diego, CA); Jon Shaw ( Boulder, CO); John Grandt ( Denver, CO); and Bill McGoldrick ( Hyannis, MA) joined the Central Hockey League. Meanwhile, current or former ODP participants such as Zach Wiebe, Geno Benda, and Jesse Pletsch started working AHL games.  

The ODP, now in the 13^th year of existence, was the brainchild of former USA Hockey VP of Junior Hockey Dave Tyler, former USHL President Gino Gasparini, former AWHL chairman Eric Bonanno and current USA Hockey Officiating Director Matt Leaf.  

Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com