Timm Walsh has been named the fourth annual recipient of the NCHC Mark Rudolph Officiating Achievement Award for the 2016-17 season.
Walsh completed his fourth season as an NCHC referee last March and was presented with the award on Saturday night at a ceremony at NCHC Officiating Camp in Eagan, Minn., which was attended by all NCHC referees, linesmen from Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska, as well as NCHC staff.
The presentation was also attended by Walsh’s wife, Lori, their son, Devin, and their daughters, McKenna and Riley.
Criteria for the award recipient is an individual who, through dedicated effort and service, both on and off the ice, has achieved a distinguished accomplishment during the previous NCHC season, and who by his actions has significantly enhanced the NCHC and its officiating program.
Walsh joined the NCHC officiating staff for the conference’s inaugural 2013-14 season after completing several successful seasons in the WCHA where he worked the playoffs consistently.
In addition to the NCHC officials’ annual charity golf tournament, Walsh dove into the Movember fundraising efforts headfirst, generating ideas for an inaugural Movember silent auction, which took place at a Denver home game in November. All details of the auction were finalized by Walsh, but while he was officiating the game on the ice that evening, his family and the family members of the other NCHC officials manned the auction booth. Because of Walsh’s contributions and the efforts of several officiating families, the NCHC officiating staff raised over $10,000 for Movember in 2016, which eclipsed the NCHC officials’ previous effort of $5,700.
“Timm Walsh has been an important piece of officiating within college hockey for many years. We have always been proud to have him as a part of the NCHC team,” said NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton in a statement. “With that said, what Timm did last year to support the officials’ Movember effort showed tremendous dedication and was incredibly generous. We are very honored to present this year’s Mark Rudolph Officiating Award to Timm Walsh.”
One the ice, Walsh has been selected to officiate the NCHC Frozen Faceoff all four years of the conference’s championship tournament (2014-17), while advancing to the 2017 NCAA tournament, working the Northeast Regional championship game in Manchester, N.H.
“Aside from Walshy’s brilliant sense of humor, which has been known to attract crowds at times, he has been the consummate professional during his four seasons on our staff,” added NCHC director of officiating Don Adam. “Regardless of his level of experience, Timm is always open to constructive criticism and nobody is harder on him than he is on himself. He possesses the drive and work ethic to get better every game and season. Because of Walshy’s initiative and the assistance of his family and others, our staff raised over $10,000 for men’s health awareness. Walshy has been a selfless contributor both on and off the ice and he continues to be a valued member of our staff.”
Previous winners of the Rudolph award are John Philo (2014), Paul Carnathan (2015) and Joe Sullivan (2016).
