Welcome to the latest edition of the Ice Wolves Den. With both teams either off or on the road for Albuquerque’s annual Balloon Fiesta, this week we feature the unsung heroes of any hockey team, the Off Ice Officials, or OIO for short.
You see them every time there’s a penalty when they open the door to the penalty box, you see their work every time a goal is scored when they light the lamp and you see them whenever the clock is running. They are the Off Ice Officials. In Albuquerque they are a dedicated group of volunteers who love our amazing sport, but rarely get any recognition. The Ice Wolves OIO group has a small leadership group, headed by John Locke and Craig Kendall. Craig says when the Ice Wolves were founded, they had to learn on the fly, “We had a lot to learn, there was information from the league that was provided, but it was very general. Our specific needs based on our set-up took a lot of time to get used to, then we had to recruit volunteers.” He continued, “We had to get nine people for every game, then there’s training. It took a while to get everything in place and now we have a good system. We’re always recruiting for more volunteers and we’ll put them in places based on their availability and try not to overwork everybody.”
The most experienced member of the group by far has to be John Ryan who is entering his 32nd season and over that time he has seen the job evolve, “I started in the 1992-93 season with the Utica(NY) Blizzard of the United Hockey League. I worked there for 6 years. When they moved out of town I worked for Utica College men’s and women’s teams for 17 years along with the Utica Comets of the AHL.” He continued, “A lot of the technology has changed. Goal judges aren’t consulted like they used to be, because referees will go to video replay if it’s a available.”
Jeremy Spranger is another member of the leadership core, he’s been involved in the sport most of his life, “I grew up playing hockey in Wisconsin, pretty much all my life until I joined the military. I coached youth hockey for quite some time. Joining the Off Ice Officials was another way to stay involved in the sport.” Jeremy said, “Those of us in the leadership role were a part of the OIO starting in the Ice Wolves inaugural season. Our job is to make sure everything runs smoothly. The first year was rough, we had to learn the software and some had to learn the game, at times something as minute as what is an actual shot on goal. We were quickly able to lay down a solid foundation. People may not want to volunteer because they’re worried about making a commitment, you volunteer as much as you’re able and you don’t get thrown to the wolves, pardon the pun.”
One of the newest members of the group is Diana Marion, she joined to further her love of the game, “I’ve been a huge hockey fan since I was a child. I was laughed at sometimes for being a hockey fan in New Mexico. Everybody always told me I should be a basketball and football fan, but hockey is the sport I fell in love with. Seeing how popular the Ice Wolves are, I think I made the right choice” She said, “I joined the OIO when my husband invited me, he joined the previous season. It’s the love of hockey, some of what we do is vital in helping these kids on every team in the division, to further their dreams of playing at a higher level.”
Ice Wolves Owner Stan Hubbard can’t stress enough how important the Off Ice Officials are to the organization, “The Off Ice Officials are critical, they keep the live scoring, feeding the website live so fans can track it. They capture all the stats like shots or plus minus for who was on the ice when a goal was scored for both teams. We couldn’t put games on at this level if it wasn’t for our Off Ice Officials.” Stan continued, “We have real pros here, they’ll train anybody to do this. If it was rocket science we’d be going up to the labs here to bring them in to do it. It’s hockey science, if you love the game of hockey and you want to give back to the game a little, try off ice officiating it’s a blast and it’s really important to these kids.”
The Ice Wolves are always looking for volunteers to be Off Ice Officials. It’s a great experience and a way to get more involved with the sport. If you are interested head to www.NMOIO.org and click on the Volunteer tap to sign up or email John Locke at john@nmoio.org or Craig Kendall at craig@nmoio.org.
The NA3HL Ice Wolves are off until they host the Austin Ice Bats on October 18th, 19th and 20th. The NAHL Ice Wolves were on the road this past weekend in Corpus Christi unfortunately getting swept, 4-1 on Friday, 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday and 6-1 on Sunday. This coming weekend they travel to Shreveport for a pair against the Mudbugs. As always you can hear the incomparable Jason Thomas on the call on NATV.
All photos courtesy of the New Mexico Off Ice Officials Association
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