Five things to know about NCHC officiating under new director Mike Schmitt

Oct. 13—GRAND FORKS — There was a major change in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's front office this summer.

Second-year commissioner Heather Weems replaced longtime director of officiating Don Adam with Mike Schmitt of Minot, N.D.

Schmitt had long been a supervisor for the league and previously worked as a referee in the old Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Here are five things to know about Schmitt and the league's officiating system under him:

Schmitt did not cut any officials from the roster. He informed them they all have a clean slate as they enter the 2023-24 season.

"I'm not going to come in and make drastic changes," Schmitt said. "I didn't release anybody. I told the guys it wouldn't be right for me to release people, because I want the year to see them. So, everybody is on a clean slate this year."

In the past, Adam often consulted with a wide range of officials when making decisions on supplemental discipline.

This sometimes included polling personnel in other college hockey leagues and in the pro ranks.

Schmitt said he won't be doing that.

"I'm going to ask for input from our supervisors," Schmitt said. "Once I have input from supervisors, the determination will be made between myself and commissioner Heather Weems.

"We're not going to go outside of our league and ask for input."

In the past, supplemental discipline was far more likely if the illegal hit happened late in a game.

Schmitt said that won't necessarily be the case anymore.

"Supplemental discipline is for egregious acts not (covered) in the rulebook," Schmitt said. "We don't want to go re-officiate the game. We want to make sure we're not using certain parameters to suspend people such as time in a game.

"If an individual gets five-and-a-game with three minutes to go in the game, does that automatically equate to supplemental discipline? Yes? No? We have to look at the situation. I'm not just going to use time left on the clock for that. I want to see the aggression. Was there intent? Was that individual ticked off at a play and out for revenge on an individual?"

Schmitt will have his stamp on a few new hires in Year 1.

Referee Tom Sterns announced his retirement last season and Timm Walsh also opted not to return this season.

Schmitt hired two new referees — Stan Szczurek and Anthony Vikhter. He also is moving Justin Hills of Grafton, N.D., from linesman to referee. Erik Contino will referee a few games and also work as a linesman this season. The plan is for Contino to fully transition to referee in 2024-25.

Schmitt also added five new linesmen to the league staff — Nathan Voll of Roseau, Minn., Daniel Naylor of Fargo, Aaron Mostrom, Chris Williams and Reilly Hickey.

There are two new supervisors of officials in the league — Dave Jackson, who also works as ESPN's rules analyst on hockey broadcasts, and Todd Anderson, a former NCHC referee.

Schmitt's scheduling policy will be different than Adam's.

Schmitt has already made referee and linesman assignments for the entire pre-Christmas portion of the schedule. Adam usually only scheduled a few weeks out.

The change was made to help officials manage life outside of officiating, which can help recruitment and retention of top officials.