ODMHA

OFFICIATING PROGRAM

2003/2004

YEAR END REPORT

A year end overview of the activities and accomplishments

of the

ODMHA Officiating Program

for the

2003/2004

Hockey Season.

ODMHA / 2003/2004
ODMHA Officiating Program Season Highlights
1

2003 ODMHAREFEREESCHOOL – 20th Annual - August 21st to 24th, 2003

(University of Ottawa - Ottawa, Ontario)

The 20th annual ODMHA/ODHA Referee’s School, was held last summer at the University of Ottawa from August 21-24, 2003.

There were 154 participants in total, which included 6 out of branch officials (representing the Ontario Hockey Federation, Hockey Northwestern Ontario and USA Hockey), as well 14 ODMHA female Officials.

One of the major highlights at the school was a presentation by Dave Baker (Technical Manager of Officiating NHL). Dave provided valuable insight with regards to the orientation, expectations and development of becoming a NHL Official. We were also fortunate to have Maurice Roy (Referee in Chief Hockey Canada), Doug Hayward (Supervisor with Hockey Canada) and Al Matthews (Chairman of the Board Hockey Canada) drop by to address the students.

The school was a complete success and we are currently planning this year’s school which will be held August 12-15, 2004 at CarletonUniversity

2004 OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY FESTIVAL – 5thAnnual -January 1st to 5th, 2003

(OIHFAtom Peewee Tournament)

Since its inception 5 years ago, the OIHF Bell Canada Cup continues to grow and remains as a premiere development opportunity for our young officials in the ODMHA. The tournament was a great success for all participants as well as the officials.

We had over 150 officials from across the branch work the 752 games in the tournament this year.

30 Senior Officials and District Supervisors put in a lot of time and effort and supervised 154 of the 752 games.

Video supervisions were completed for all officials who worked 9 of the Championship games at the Corel Centre.

Thanks to support from the Ottawa Senators and CorelCenter, we managed to put together a “prize pool” of Senators game tickets worth over $2000, which were drawn and awarded to supervisors who took time out over the course of the weekend to help out many minor hockey officials.

The OIHF Tournament continues to provide an excellent opportunity to do supervisions and promote other development programs for Atom level and younger/newer officials in our branch. We hope to continue our strong communications and relationship with the OIHF Committee to make this a focal point for younger officials’ development in years to come.

A special thanks goes to Cyril Leeder, Aaron Robinson and the OIHF Board and Organizing Committee for their continued support of the ODMHA officiating program development at this tournament.

2004 ODMHA Officiating Program of Excellence – Nortel Bantam Cup Ontario Championships

(Kanata, Ontario)

The officials selected to work this Championship have been working all year in the ODMHA Officiating Development Program of Excellence. We started out with 44 officials (16referees and 28 linesmen) who were identified as the top MINOR hockey officials in their Districts within the ODMHA. Over the course of this season, they attended on ice and off ice sessions, had rule tests, quizzes and exams administered, attended a weekend tournament/development camp, and had numerous on-ice supervisions and evaluations completed on them throughout the course of the year.

From that process and evaluation criteria, the Nortel Bantam Cup Supervisors and selection committee selected the top 7 referees and 14 linesmen based on their ability and efforts throughout the season to work this prestigious championship.

The main goal of the program was to select officials to work the Nortel Bantam Cup Championship, but getting our top officials from across the branch working together to improve consistency and pass on standards to all of their Districts also is a main focus with this program!

The 21 Officials (7 Referees and 14 Linesmen) who were selected to work the Bantam Cup (April 1-6, 2003) In Kanata all did a great job representing the Districts and ODMHA on and off the ice and Jay Shaw (D8), Ian Dooley (D8) and Iain Brock (D9) were the officials selected to work the Gold Medal Game. (See complete list of officials who worked championship at end of this report).

Kudos go to Tom Borowiecki and his organizing committee who did a great with this event and made the officials welcome and feel part of he event all week

2003/2004 ODMHA OFFICIALS EXCHANGE PROGRAM – 4th Annual

(AlbanyNYUSA, Newfoundland, Helsinki Finland & Budapest Hungary)

The most popular and successful officiating program we now have in the branch was initiated during the 2000/2001 season with the cooperation and support of Cyril Leeder and the Ottawa International Hockey Festival (OIHF) Tournament. It has grown over the years through support from ODHA Development and the ODMHA Executive to the point this season (2003/2004) the exchange program was expanded to include opportunities for 14 ODMHA officials to host or participate in an international visit with officials from IIHF countries.

From the reports from all officials involved this year (hosting and traveling), this was another great success all around and continues to be an integral development opportunity for ODMHA Officials.

This year, The ODMHA Officiating Program hosted and welcomed 10 officials from out of town …two (2) officials from Newfoundland (Craig WELLSand Justin DAY), two (2) officials from Helsinki, Finland (Mikko MUURIMÄKI and Jan NORDSTRÖM), two (2) officials from Budapest, Hungary (Miklós Haszonits and Zsuzsanna Sándor), and also four (4) officials from Albany, New York USA (Mike DeFURIA, Kevin GRABER, John MURNANE, and Bruce GEDDES). In addition to the OIHF Tournament, all of the visiting officials also worked a variety of hockey within the ODMHA, including some junior level games for the male officials.

In addition to the on ice activities, the ODMHA host officials (Chris MESSINA (D8), Norm LAMOTHE (D10), Josh FOSTER(D5), Pat BROWN(D9)Sarah INGIMUNDSON (D8), and Jean Sebastien CARON(D3)and their friends & families, showed them our local hospitality, toured them around the nations capital, keeping the visiting officials busy off the ice as well. One of the highlights of their stay included attending an N.H.L. game between the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals on Saturday January 3rd.

The ODMHA officials who made the return trips this season included:

  • Iain BAIRD (D12), Jason HODGINS (D10), Brad CRAWFORD (D2) and Doug McNAUGHT (D9) went to AlbanyNew York to work a local minor hockey tournament in December 2003,
  • Mathieu DESJARDINS (D12) and Jason PICKARD (D1) went to Sweden/Finland with a touring Kanata PW AA Team,
  • Pat BROWN (D9) and Josh FOSTER (D5) made it to the rock (Newfoundland) again to work their top minor and high school hockey,
  • Lisa GRISON (D8) and Chad WHITE (D7) made it to BudapestHungary in April 2004!

Noted below are some of the comments from the exchange officials, which speak volumes for the success of this program.

Mathieu Desjardins (D12)

Mathieu made the trip to Sweden/Finland …

“What an experience!!! We started off with a 2 day stay in Stockholm Sweden were we visited the town and watched the Kanata Blazers Peewee AA team play against 2 Swedish teams. We left for HelsinkiFinland by boat (cruise ship), unfortunately for us the night we were at sea there was a big storm that rocked the boat quite a bit. Arrived in Helsinki, we were greeted by our billets, Hilppa, Kyösti, Gia and Jari. During my stay in Finland I officiated 5 hockey games ( 1 Peewee AA 2 official system, 1 Bantam AA North Toronto vs. Jokerit 2 official system, 1 midget A ref, 1 midget A line and 1 Midget rep B 2 official system) , visited the city, experienced a Finnish New Year at a cottage, and took in some of the world junior hockey championships and a Finnish national hockey league game. We were received by a great bunch of people that had us very busy but most of all very happy.”

Jason Pickard (D1)

Jason made the trip to Sweden/Finland …

“What an experience. I have to start off by thanking you and the ODHA/ODMHA for the chance of a lifetime. 10 days spent in Stockholm and Helsinki, and an afternoon in Amsterdam made for quite the life experience that I would never have had without this opportunity.

The hockey that I officiated was great. I got a chance to referee some of the top Midget aged teams in Finland. Very fast and entertaining to watch. The precision passing and puck control the top teams displayed was amazing.

In Helsinki, the hospitality from my billet Gia Tulilahti and her husband Jari was wonderful. They made me feel at home in every aspect and showed me the sights of Helsinki, not to mention running me to the arena for all my games. We had a great time on New Years at their cottage. I was also lucky enough to get to see a game in the Finnish National League and many of the World Junior Championship games played in Helsinki. Many thanks to Pirkka Antila, the Manager of Hockey Operations for the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, for arranging the tickets and being a great host during my stay. Probably the funniest moment of the trip was when Pirkka took to the microphone at a Karaoke Bar we visited one evening.

I would also like to take this time to thank Cyril Leeder and his Kanata Peewee AA team that we tagged along with. They treated Mathieu and I like part of the team.

Thanks again to Mark Gallant and the ODHA/ODMHA for a great experience across the pond. This is a trip I would highly recommend to any official considering the exchange program”

Lisa Grison (D8)

Lisa made the trip to Budapest, Hungary

“Our first day in Hungary we were taken on a tour around the city where we were given the chance to experience some of the Hungarian culture. The next day Chad was given the opportunity to ref the equivalent of a junior level hockey game, Hungary vs. Germany, at this game we also met the Referee in Chief for Hungary.

The next day we drove through Croatia to Slovenia where we spent the day watching several games of Women’s Nationals Division 3. We were able to see many different levels of hockey during our stay as well as many different styles of refereeing

To begin the new week we headed out to the arena early in the morning where we refereed several games throughout the day ranging from women’s house league to the peewee competitive level. We worked with both of our billets and another Hungarian official who participated in the exchange 2 years ago. Wednesday we traveled to a different area in Hungary for the day to go and watch the Men’s National’s Division 3 where Holland, Spain, Germany and Hungary all played. We returned home and Thursday we continued refereeing the finals of the tournament, I refereed both the bronze and gold games with Chad on the lines.

The trip was a great learning experience; we were able to see the difference in hockey rules in Europe (IIHF) and Canada and were also able to see the different skill level between the different age groups we refereed. I think that this trip has helped me develop into a better official and am grateful for this opportunity.”

Overall the feedback for this initiative has been overwhelming. Many of the Officials have indicated that this opportunity has been the highlight of their officiating career and have also alluded to the fact that this has been one of their greatest life experiences. This is an excellent opportunity that encourages, promotes and motivates those officials who are not necessarily recognized as elite officials in the ODHA. This program would not have been successful without the support from the ODMHA Executives

2004 ODMHA/ODHA Level IV/V SEMINAR -January 24th to 26th, 2004

(Brookstreet Hotel, KanataOntario)

A Level IV-V Seminar was held at the Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata on January 24-26, 2004. We had 63 participants that represented the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Northwestern Ontario. Our guest speakers included Jacques Martin (coach Ottawa Senators), Tom Rennie (coach New York Rangers), Dave Baker (Technical Manager of Officiating NHL), Terry Gregson (NHL Referee), Scott Driscoll (NHL Linesmen) and Greg Devorski (HNL Linesmen). The seminar proved to be a tremendous success and all feedback received was extremely positive.

20032004 ODMHA – OTTAWA SENATORS - NHL GUEST OFFICIALS PROGRAM

The NHL/ODMHA Guest Official Program is a Hockey Canada based development initiative in partnership with the Hockey Canada Branches and participating NHL hockey teams. It provides a unique opportunity for young officials active in our program to experience the highest level of hockey to which they can aspire and meet some professional officials who can serve as role models. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ottawa Senators and the National Hockey Leagues Officials or their continuous support regarding this endeavour.

Each official met with the on-ice NHL Officials prior to an NHL SENS game. They dressed in the NHL Referee room in full referee equipment and skated out on the ice for pre-game warm-up and National Anthem. The young officials also received a free ticket for themselves and a parent/guardian to attend that game.

We were very fortunate to have 24 young Minor hockey officials participate in the following NHL hockey games.

  • November 1, 2003– Buffalo Sabres
  • November 6, 2003- Edmonton Oilers
  • November 13, 2003- Columbus Blue Jackets
  • November 17, 2003- Buffalo Sabres
  • November 20, 2003- Carolina Hurricanes
  • November 27, 2003- Vancouver Canucks
  • January 1, 2004- New York Islanders
  • January 3, 2004- Washington Capitals

HC – ODMHA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM REPORT

The Mentorship Program was implemented in 2001-2002 by the ODHA/ODMHA Officiating Program. The new Level 4/5 candidates were used as the pilot group of mentors. The benefits and results were significant enough to continue the program and broaden the scope across the Branch for 2003-2004. The following report was compiled by our Referee Mentor Coordinator, Paul BOESE (D5).

One of the biggest groups this year was coordinated by Harold Steele(D11 – Kanata). Harold, in addition to being a mentor himself, arranged and oversaw the mentoring of 20 Officials. Kanata’s approach to the Mentorship Program resembled a pyramid structure.

“Kanata has undertaken its mentorship program in a form unlike any other. There are senior mentors, junior mentors and those persons being mentored. The senior mentors oversee two junior individuals who in turn oversee two younger officials. In doing this it ensures that those persons who are younger in age, but just as experienced are able to get involved in the process and are not forgotten. The senior mentors are selected as such as they have slightly more experience in refereeing and may be able to provide a broader perspective of experiences and events. This combination of senior officials and junior officials keeps everyone involved in the learning process and will benefit the mentees as they benefit from the wealth of experience from all levels.”

Carleton Placealso ran a mentoring program this year, coordinated by Reese and Renee Adeney. (D4) They had 13 Level I officials in their program.

“This 2003-2004 is our inaugural season for the newly formed Carleton Place Minor Hockey Referee Development Program (CPMHRDP). In a short time, we have seen many varied changes within our referee ranks, and the progression of many senior officials to executive members. A select team of dedicated senior officials was formed with common goals: foster continued development of senior officials, encourage Carleton Place youth to become referees, and through the support and efforts of Steve Sleigh and his ODHA referee program, supervise each of our officials.

The CPMHA executive has accepted our proposal and budget for the 2003-2004 season, which has directly led to a large mentoring program. Early in the season, two on-ice sessions were held to reinforce basic positioning and procedures, as well as introduce the 3-man system.”

From my corner of world (D5 – Cobden), this year had a different focus from last year, due to the fact that I had no new officials in my group this year. This did not present a problem in that the group I worked with last year had returned for another season. We just picked up from where we left off. The group this year was much more confident in the mechanics of the game; thus, a lot of time was spent reviewing the mental part of their game. An example of this review was the penalties they saw and did not call; in other words, the “what were you thinking, what did you see”. The challenge, when mentoring the same group for the second year, was being innovative to keep it fun and fresh. I have already received some interest from a couple of good new candidates for next year so I will be back to square one again. If there were to be no new officials to draw from for next year, I would certainly be looking outside my local group for a mentoree. My current group of 4 will now develop well under the supervision framework. They have a good grasp of the mechanics of officiating and enough insight into “game management” to be dangerous.