STOCKTON, Calif. – On Saturday, March 10, 2012, Todd Owen became only the ninth linesman in the ECHL 24-year history to officiate in his 500th game. Owen, a native of Rochester, New York, now calls Las Vegas, Nevada home. Officiating is only a part-time job, but one he thoroughly enjoys. Since he was about 14 years old, Owen had been officiating part-time around his community while he also played Hockey. After high school, he had planned to continue his hockey career at a community college in upstate New York. But, his career took another turn, thanks in part to his best friend’s older brother, who was officiating in Omaha, Nebraska. Owen decided to pursue a different route. He attended the United States Hockey League (USHL) On-Ice Officials Development program, in Vermont. In his first year as a linesman, he worked out of Dallas, Texas, where he officiated for over 120 games, full-time, all over the country. At the end of the season, he moved back to New York. The next season, he made the Western Hockey League, and found himself in Dallas again.
Later in 2003, Owen received a call from Bryan Graham, of the ECHL, offering a position with them, where he has been since. Owen worked three years as a full-time official and the last six on a part-time basis. He has worked over fifty games this season. In 2010, he was selected as one of the linesmen for the 2010 ECHL All-Star Game in Ontario, California. In the ECHL each game requires two linesmen and a referee. So they travel together from game to game, generally by car. Owen generally covers the Western Division games. He usually works a series of games. This week, he was in Stockton, California, for a Friday night game, then drove south nearly four hours to Bakersfield for a Saturday game, and back to Stockton for a Sunday Matinee, then home to Las Vegas, Nevada. As an official, Owen is also an athlete. This means working out daily, since they must skate the entire game, back and forth on the ice. If the game goes into overtime, they must be prepared too. Owen related the importance of rest when he talked about officiating during last years playoff games. He was working a full time day job, where he’d begin the workday at 6:00 a.m. Then, he’d work the evening games. On a Tuesday, he was assigned the home game for Las Vegas against the Idaho Steelheads. During the playoffs, teams continue to play until one wins. There are no shootouts. On this particular game, both teams were tied at zero, until the end of the second overtime, in which Las Vegas finally scored. 
The following day, Owen went to work again, early, since he had another evening game scheduled. The same two teams, only this time, the teams were tied until Idaho scored just over the halfway point of the third overtime. Having worked the equivalent of three plus games in two days, and a day job, he was drained. An on-ice official must have a thick skin too. Theirs is among the few careers that are booed regardless of their job performance. Owen has an interesting perspective on dealing with the everyday stress of his job. “We have to be strong willed. There are usually about seven or eight thousand people out there and two teams against you. The fans yell and scream that they don’t like you. We can hear them boo us,” said Owen. “I guess we look at it as just part of the game. That’s our form of cheer.” Owen moved from officiating Junior Hockey to the WHL to pro in a short amount of time and reflected on the differences of player skill levels on the ice. “It was an eye-opener to see the differences in the level of play. In the pros these guys are mean. They can hit hard and play for their lives.” He has to get in the middle of tousles between players and say’s he has been lucky and has never really gotten the wrong end of one of those punches. They also get hit by a puck every now and then, and yes, it really hurts. 
“The job of the linesman is to make it easier on the referee. We watch the off-sides and icings and stuff behind the play. We constantly provide encouragement to the referee. At the end of the day, it’s his game, and we just help; but we are a team.” Ryan Murphy, the referee for todays game added, “It’s good to have experienced officials like Todd in our league. As a young guy, we lean on guys like him.” Owen appeared to be a matter-of-fact type of guy, and this 500-game achievement didn’t seem to be a big deal to him. He’s doing something that he enjoys, and that seems to be the best part of all. Contact the writer at Shellie.Lima@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com
Related
You must be logged in to post a comment.