Mark Shewchyk

Shewchyk a native of Hamilton, Ontario started officiating at the age of 23. His playing days saw him reaching the Junior levels with his last season at 19 playing for the Flamborough Gamblers. His dad, Dave Shewchyk was an NHL official from 1968 to 1976 and played a big role on Mark’s early development as a hockey official. He went on and attended the North American School of Officiating in his first year of officiating and was hired from that clinic to work the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA). He would go on and learn the ropes in the OHA in his first year of officiating. The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) hired him as a linesman the following year (summer of 1999) at age 24. Shewchyk continued to work the OHA at the same time for the following two seasons. His hard work and his understanding of the game made him early on a prime prospect for the National Hockey League Officiating Team. In his second year with the OHL as a linesman, Shewchyk was identified as a good candidate for the NHL and was assigned to work some American Hockey League (AHL) games in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. He would go on and work his last two seasons as an amateur official, working primary the OHL and working a handful of AHL game every year. The big promotion came in the summer of 2003 when Andy Van Hellomond, the NHL Director of Officiating back then, offered him an NHL full time linesman contract while he was attending the annual NHL Officiating Prospect Summer Camp in Guelph, Ontario. Shewchyk made his NHL debut on October 9th, 2003 in Nashville, TN when the Predators hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Shewchyk also worked the 2014 Winter Classic Game at the “Big House” (Michigan Stadium) in Ann Arbor, Michigan an outdoor game that set an NHL attendance record of 105,491 spectators. The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on that cold winter day.