PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The first day of the 2021 Advanced Officiating Symposium was kicking into high gear when long-time NHL linesman Brian Murphy opened a panel discussion on the pros and cons of the four-official system with a simple question to the three panelists: what impact did Mark Rudolph have on them and their careers in the game.

One by one, the three veteran USA Hockey officials, Chris Rooney, Scott Zelkin and Don Adam reminisced about how the pioneer of USA Hockey’s national officiating program not only changed their lives but also shaped the future for all American officials.

Standing in the back of the room, Rudolph quietly stood leaning against the door frame, slightly shaking his head as he mostly stared down at his shoes.

“It brings back a lot of old memories of fun times,” Rudolph said prior to addressing the audience of 200 USA Hockey officials as the keynote speaker to round out the evening. “I hear all these accolades and I wish they would stop because it’s ancient history.”

That may be true but it’s also an important barometer of how far the USA Hockey officiating program has come and the opportunities it’s provided for American officials at the highest levels of the game. And according to those who have benefited from the program, a lot of the credit is placed at the feet of Rudolph.

Adam can certainly attest to that. In addition to creating the officiating summer camps, Rudolph also gave the aspiring young official the opportunity to hone his skills to the point where he could work the highest levels at international tournaments.

“He is responsible for the vast majority of my career. Every opportunity that I had I would never have done without Mark Rudolph,” said Adam, who is now the head of officiating for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The way that Rudolph sees it, he was simply in the right place at the right time. When he joined the staff at USA Hockey, which was called the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States at the time, the office only consisted of eight people.

“I basically got an office and a small budget and the marching orders to do what you need to do because nobody knew anything at all about what we did as officials. And it kind of developed from there,” he said.

Rudolph grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and worked his way through the officiating ranks to become the first American to work in the Ontario Hockey League. His peers at the time were a who’s who of future NHL officials, including Don Koharski, Dan Marouelli and Bill McCreary. While they all welcomed Rudolph into the officiating fraternity, there were those at the NHL level who weren’t as kind.

“The administrators seemed as though they were always extremely pro-Canadian. I don’t think the guys doing the hiring even knew Americans existed, much less why would you pick one to join their staff.”

Rudolph set out to change that by creating more opportunities for young Americans to advance their careers with the goal of developing more NHL officials.

Each one of these officials, and probably a dozen more who aren’t part of this weekend’s Advanced Officiating Symposium, would say that if it wasn’t for the USA Hockey officiating program and the opportunities that that program gave them to showcase their world-class talents they wouldn’t be where they got to. It that’s something that Rudolph takes great pride in.

“My wife likes to say that the hockey world is my family and the officials are my kids,” he said in closing out his keynote speech. “I’m just glad to see what I started a long time ago is still going strong.”