Nick Albinati's skin is no thicker than most humans.
His ears are not equipped with an on/off switch.
But in 10 years wearing the stripes as hockey linesman, he's become pretty adept at tuning out the less-than-complimentary opinions of fans, players and coaches.
Black and white and never right? Not by a country mile.
Albinati and his first cousin Anthony Maletta are living the dream this week as Telus Cup whistleblowers. They've paid their dues learning the game in the Prince George Minor Hockey Association and are now regulars making offside/ icing calls and breaking up scraps as linesmen in the Western Hockey League and B.C. Hockey League.
"It's tough to put it into words but it's so much fun, it's something I've looked forward to from the beginning of the season," said Albinati. "I know basically all the officials here from past camps and different leagues and that makes it 10 times better.
"It's pretty easy working with these guys. We've all worked some high-level games this year and that's definitely prepared me for this. These kids are good, they're fast. The speed and skill out there is definitely noticeable."
Some of the Telus Cup games have had a near-constant parade of penalties and Albinati says it's up to the players to adapt to how the officials are enforcing the rules.
"They've wanted us to have a tight standard and a consistent standard," said Albinati. "They want to take out as many dangerous hits as possible, so hits to the head, the dangerous stickwork to the hand. We've tried to focus on that message to us this week and we're doing our best to let the teams on the ice decide the winners."
Seven referees and seven linesmen, all from B.C., have been assigned to the Telus Cup. Tyler Garden, 24, a UNBC environmental studies graduate who moved to the city four years ago from North Battleford, Sask., is one of the Telus Cup referees, working first national tournament. The on-ice officials don't receive their assignments until after the games are done for the day but all three locals are hopeful they will be get the call for the semifinal round today and the medal games on Sunday.
Maletta, 26, moved back to Prince George last summer after three years in Burnaby studying radiation therapy at BCIT. The two cousins have yet to work together in the same game at the Telus Cup but have teamed up several times in the BCHL and major midget league.
"It's a long process throughout the season to be selected for this and having something above minor helps for this tournament, the last five years I've done quite a few major midget games," said Maletta. "Spending time with the other (officials) has been lots of fun. We don't get to see everyone being up in Prince George all the time and me and Nick have been showing them around.
"I'd love to make it up to the Western Hockey League, I know it's another jump for me from the BCHL and I'm going to keep working at it as much as I can. I wear the (referee) stripes more often than Nick but for the most part I'm a linesman."
Maletta and Albinati both stand six-foot-three and weigh close to 200 pounds and that size comes in handy sometimes if they have to break up a scrap.
Albinati played up until his final year of midget eligibility but knew he wasn't good enough as a player to move on to junior. He was attending the Okanagan Hockey School in Penticton when he met NHL referee Steve Kozari, who convinced him to start lining minor hockey games. Albinati was 12 and Maletta was 16 when they started officiating.
"We were just looking for something to do," said Albinati. "We always watched (WHL) Cougar games and we just thought we could make a bit of money out of it and it's just taken off from there, it's been so much fun."
But it's not always fun and games, and Albinati is clear in his definitions as to what rates as acceptable criticism.
"Especially in a tournament like this, games are going to be close and players and coaches are going to get upset if something doesn't go their way," said Albinati. "You just have to find that fine line between emotion and abuse. When it gets to the point of abuse it has to be addressed right away."
Albinati's 21-year-old brother Josh is a BCHL referee and linesman. Nick has no desire to be a referee and has his heart set on making it to the pros as a linesman.
"The dream is to one day work in the National Hockey League as a linesman but working in the WHL is a dream come true," he said. "I've watched the guys out there, wishing I could be part of that one day and my goal is to take officiating as far as possible.
"I still have some time left before my window of opportunity is closed."
