WHL officials enjoying the ride at World Juniors

Gothenburg, Swe.- Jack Young was seven years old in 2008, with his nose pressed up against the glass at the rink as his dad, Wendell, and the IHL’s Chicago Wolves battled for the Calder Cup.

But he wasn’t watching his dad in the Wolves’ crease. Wasn’t even wearing his jersey.

Young was fascinated by the referees in their striped kits and recently got one of his own for Christmas that year.

“My dad was known for not liking the referees, so they would be like, ‘That’s your kid that’s wearing the referee sweater?’ And my dad’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s karma for everything I do to you guys,’” Young recalled. “I just got fascinated by them at some point and I just fell in love with it.”

It’s a similar story for Troy Murray, who pulled on a makeshift officials uniform and roller skates as he refereed his brother’s mini-sticks games in their Regina, Sask. basement.

Now refereeing in the WHL, Young, Murray, and B.C.’s Mark Pearce were able to realize their own dreams and reflect on their early attraction to the profession by being invited to officiate the IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.

“It’s no different for us than players,” Murray, who actually played Junior A as a defenceman while starting his WHL officiating career, said. “You dream about World Juniors, you dream about the NHL. I don’t know what sparked that interest at that young age, but to put two photos side by side, one from the other with about 27 years difference, it’s quite unique.”

“Surreal,” Pearce added. “It has truly been one of the greatest experiences of my professional officiating career and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent Hockey Canada and the Western Hockey League at this prestigious event. It has been an absolute privilege to be a part of such an incredible event and to share the ice with the up-and-coming stars and other top officials from around the world.”

While Young and Murray are working the tournament for the first time, Pearce is on his second go-around.

In 2021, he entered the Edmonton bubble with the all-Canadian officiating crew. Instead of the achingly empty Rogers Arena, he’s getting the full experience of working nail-biting games in front of a ravenous Swedish crowd.

The WHL referees worked 16 of 23 games at the tournament, with Pearce even earning the call for the gold-medal match between host Sweden and the United States.

A whirlwind, for sure, but one they feel couldn’t have happened without their time in the WHL.

“So many of our games are supervised in the Western league,” Murray explained. “There are numerous individuals across the whole league that see us at different points in time that are there for our development and it’s all headed up by (Senior Director of Officiating) Kevin Muench. The professionalism and the support, the coaching that we received through all those supervisors and led by Kevin, I think is extremely important in our development and the opportunities that then get provided like this for some of us, we’re very lucky.”

They’ve come a long way from kids dressing up as zebras, daring to envision moments like this.

But as they return to the junior barns of Western Canada, they continue to share the dreams of the players they work with- another World Juniors? The NHL? Maybe even the Olympics?

Only time- and continued hours of hard work- will tell.

-30-