“Rookie” Marouelli makes pro debut

RICHMOND, Va. – On December 10, the Fayetteville FireAntz were in Richmond to take on the Renegades in an SPHL game, just one of many each team will play this season. One rookie who took the ice that night to participate in his first professional hockey game wore neither the colors of the Renegades nor the FireAntz. Curtis Marouelli, 23, wore a striped shirt with orange armbands as one of the two referees assigned to work the game. Teamed with veteran referee Ian Croft,

who also works games in the AHL, and linesmen Trevor Shively and Daniel Helbach, this was for Marouelli a milestone he hopes eventually leads to the NHL. Marouelli’s path to his first professional game assignment started when he was a Midget hockey player back in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. It was then that he learned that being an on-ice official could be a source of income. “I recognized that while I was playing and having fun, the on-ice officials were getting paid after each game,” he said. “I registered and picked up a few games for spending money and importantly found out that I enjoyed officiating as much as I liked playing.” With the encouragement of his parents, he started to work local house league and lower level games whenever possible. Eventually, at about age 15, he decided to pursue officiating rather than playing. Early on, he found that game assignments, gaining experience and progression can be a little slow for a new official. This is especially true in Canada where so many former players stay involved in the game by switching to officiating. After graduation, Marouelli entered into an apprentice program to become an electrician, an occupation he continues to pursue in the off season. Still wanting to be an official, he was encouraged by local officials and an uncle who is an NHL official, to pursue the possibility of a career in officiating. His big break came when he attended the California Referee School in El Segundo, California. The school, one of the top officiating camps in North America, has been attended by a number of current NHL officials and is also scouted by supervisors and officials from most of the junior and pro leagues across North America. At the camp’s conclusion, Marouelli was offered the opportunity to work full time in junior hockey for the Tier One United States Hockey League and for the North American Hockey League, another junior development league. The opportunity was an exciting one but it also forced Marouelli to make some decisions. He had to be willing to move to Minnesota, travel over 40,000 miles a year and accept about 100 game assignments each year. Additionally, this exposure was not a guarantee of eventual advancement to the SPHL, ECHL, or CHL. Marouelli quickly chose to begin a journey similar to that traveled by other officials, players, coaches and administrators who aspire to careers in professional hockey. “It was the chance to establish a network with other officials, supervisors and team officials, work games that are routinely scouted by professional level supervisory officials, visit places that I would otherwise never see and make life-line friends in the hockey community,” he said. Now in his second year as a full-time official, Marouelli stepped on the ice in Richmond both confident and a little nervous about his pro debut. His first professional level assignment was in a game that was one of approximately 15 in which the SPHL is testing of the use of four-man officiating crews, two referees along with two linesmen. The SPHL is evaluating the system as part of its commitment to the development of its players and officials. Four-man crews are now used in the NHL and in major NCAA college level hockey as well as the pro feeder major junior leagues in Canada. On the day of his first professional game, Marouelli dealt with his pre-game flutters and jitters by paying special attention as he went through his game-day preparations. His routine included a brush-up and discussion specifically on the rule differences between the USHL and the SPHL with the other members of the crew and the officiating supervisor, some rest and a pre-game meal about 3 P.M. along with plenty of hydration all day long. The nervousness quickly disappeared as he whistled the game’s and his first pro penalty call for tripping at 1:24 of the first period. One of the major differences between being the single referee in a game versus working with another referee according to Marouelli is the view on many plays. “Frequently, in the four-man system on breakouts you may be watching the play come towards you while in the three man crew you are often skating and viewing the play from behind the action,” he said. “The four man system provides both views from in front by the lead official and from behind by the trailing official. It also requires more backwards skating and you feel it after the game in a different set of leg muscles.” In his debut, Marouelli and the rest of the crew went virtually unnoticed as the FireAntz, playing with a limited roster, hammered out a 5-2 win over the Renegades. 24 hours later, he was in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for his first solo pro referee game, a 7-4 win by Knoxville over host Twin City. The game featured a combined 18 power play opportunities, two fights and an attempt to injure match penalty when Marouelli observed what he determined was Knoxville’s Travis Martell pulling the hair of the Cyclones’ Ryan Bartle during one of the brawls. With the first two games under his belt, Curtis Marouelli now moves on to his next game assignment happy that one milestone has been passed and hopeful that he will see many more go by in a long term professional career. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com