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Ref Memories

    In this edition I would like to talk about a fellow official who I learned a great deal from as a person and a fellow official. Randy Kalynuk is someone I met when he was playing hockey for the Angusville Flyers of the North Central Hockey League. He was a real good defenseman who also played with the Brandon University Bobcats as well with the Virden Oil Kings of the Southwest Hockey League. Randy was a strong skater who not only played his position well but had a great low shot which was great for rebounds, deflections and tip ins.
  After his playing days, Randy became an official and was one of the best! Personally, I liked working games with him. We always had fun out there and maybe brought the best out of each other. The more I used him, as I was referee in chief of the North Central League, was for the better. As a referee, Randy could tell me to watch a particular instance on the ice where there may be issues arise. He always had your back. He was a great linesman as well.
  People used to say Randy yelled a lot on the ice. Perry his brother would say to him, “Goph do not yell so loud”. Randy would reply, “I am not yelling.” Randy was a gym teacher, I think he had to talk loud or yell to get the students attention, as it is noisy in a gym.
  I saw Randy work some big-time pressure hockey games. He was consistent, approachable and refereed like a pro. One penalty he did not let go was the cheap shots that could cause a problem. He would diffuse the situation quickly. One of my favourite memories working with Goph was if a player was getting a penalty and was not happy and became disrespectful or cussing him he would give the player a way out by simply saying, “Pardon me?” If a player would repeat what he said, or started in on something new, it was either a 2-minute minor or misconduct.
  Randy always had a handle on the game, the games he refereed never got out of control. Was he perfect? No! But he would talk out any situation that had occurred, learned from it and moved on. He cared about the game and player safety.
  Another thing he did well was reading the play and would adjust his positioning accordingly.
  Over the years, Randy and I had some real good conversations about officiating and situations that we both faced from time to time. We did not always agree with one another but what is that old saying, Iron sharpens Iron! I know there is a ton of respect for one another. As I said earlier, I loved working with him, it was a great pleasure for me to work with him!
  Randy Kalynuk one of my 3 top officials that I could send to do a tough game and know it was in good hands. Thanks for the memories Goph and here is to many more.