Much like players, officials use high-profile events like the Esso Cup to showcase their skills
“Do you have Velcro on your butt?”
As you can imagine, Lacey Senuk was slightly taken aback by the question.
Senuk had just finished refereeing a game at the 2011 Esso Cup in St. Albert, Alta., when Wally Popik, then the referee-in-chief for Hockey Alberta, offered her some invaluable if unconventional advice.
“He’s like ‘you’re stuck to the boards,’” says Senuk, laughing at the memory. “I stopped and thought, ‘you have a good point.’ Little positional tips like that are great learning tools.”
Senuk was officiating her second Esso Cup, having called lines at the 2009 event in Calgary. Her name had been put forth by Hockey Alberta to work the events.
Hockey Canada relies on its provincial branches to monitor, evaluate and nominate officials for its national championships. If your name gets passed on, you know you’ve been doing a good job.
“In a way, we basically rubber stamp the branch’s nominations,” says Todd Anderson, senior manager of officiating for Hockey Canada.
In some cases, officials at the Esso Cup have already worked other high-profile events, including the Canada Winter Games and the National Women’s Under-18 Championship. For others, including Senuk in 2009, the tournament serves as a stepping stone to more national assignments.
The 2008-09 season was Senuk’s first as an official. She grew up playing hockey in Grand Cache, Alta., and joined the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sask., for four years before eventually settling in St. Albert, where she continued to play recreational hockey.
“I had friends who were referees who said I should give it a try,” says Senuk. “I thought it would be one way I could give back to the game.” That first year officiating was also her last playing. “I realized quite quickly that I much prefer (refereeing) to playing.”
Now Senuk, a safety adviser at an oil and gas company,…