Officiating in a bubble

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This article was published 22/04/2021 (1804 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For more than 200 players and coaches, taking part in the WHL’s East Division hub in Regina has been a monumental two-month exercise of discipline and sacrifice.

More impressive perhaps, have been the dedicated efforts of the two dozen on-ice officials working at the Brandt Centre.

They’ve kept the games running without a hitch while also maintaining a strict adherence to the health guidelines away from the rink.

Unlike the members of the seven teams who have been housed and fed at nearby University of Regina dorms, referees and linesmen are essentially independent operators, living and isolating in their homes, driving in for their games while being sequestered in local hotels between their assignments.

Referee Adam Bloski’s week was a prime example of the commitment required.

The 28-year-old Saskatoon resident drove to Regina for games Monday and Tuesday in the hub. On Wednesday, he hopped into his car (solo trips only, no ride-sharing allowed) for a trip to Winnipeg to work AHL games on Thursday and Saturday. He was to drive home Saturday night.

“I’m isolating at home as well,” said Bloski by telephone Tuesday. “It’s been a big commitment for all the officials to do what’s right and make sure we’re playing our part to keep things safe.”

Sticking to the rules also means boredom is bound to creep into the daily routine.

“I would say the days in the hotel room (are tough), you’ve got to try and find a way to keep busy,” said Bloski. “Guys are doing little hotel workouts to fill part of the day and even just going back and watching part of the game you worked the previous night where we have access to video. It’s actually good for the learning part of it when we’re we’re in the hub. You really are focusing in on the hockey.”

By some minor miracle, the league has not reported a positive COVID-19 test at the Regina hub, which wraps up next week. On-ice officials are tested daily in the hub; during games, they wear balaclava masks and have been instructed to pull them up for an up-close conversations with players or coaches.

“How they run things here is very, very top notch — I wouldn’t expect anything less from the WHL,” said Bloski. “The standards of cleanliness and sanitizing of our rooms has been great. The self isolation part of it, too, has been great. It’s been to the rink or the hotel and we get Skip the Dishes or order in food. But other than that, it’s in our hotel room. We are not allowed to be going out when we are in Regina.”

Saskatchewan health protocols made scheduling of officials a major challenge when all Manitoba-based officials, including highly qualified referees such as Trevor Peluk, Karlin Krieger and Ben Croker, were eliminated from consideration in the planning stage for the hub.

“Each of the health authorities had different things that they were making sure that we’re following as far as protocol goes, so we did talk about (the officials) being in the hub but there wasn’t really a strong consideration for that,” said Kevin Muench, the league’s long-time director of officiating.

“Their other recommendation was that they worked from home for seven days before they participate in games. In order to do that, boy, there’s a lot of guys who are out of the mix. They just couldn’t be at home for seven consecutive days to get into the games.

“That’s how we started moving towards the testing strategy for the officials, just to make sure we could get more guys involved and have enough to cover all the games.”

Bloski, in his eighth season in the WHL and his second in the AHL, considers himself fortunate. He’s remained active, working his regular office gig selling golf course accessories for Early’s Farm and Garden Centre in Saskatoon, while paying his dues in pursuit of his ultimate goal — reaching the NHL.

Flexibility at their day jobs is a must.

“They all have careers,” said Muench. “They’re either students or they’ve got full-time jobs and then they officiate as well. So that’s one of the things that we always have to do, even during a regular season or a normal season, is we have to work with their employers just to make sure that they’re able to get away at noon to do a game and travel back home that night to be at work the next morning.”

The pace has been frantic for Bloski, but he loves it.

He worked three games in the Edmonton hub during the world junior championship and at the conclusion of this week, will have officiated 18 WHL games and 10 AHL games this season with more to come.

“It’s part of the commitment, part of the chase and it’s getting as much experience I can on the ice,” said Bloski. “During this time, I know it’s not just a regular season but you’ve got to make the best of the circumstances we’re in and bring your best effort every night.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14