Wally Popik's significant contributions on and off the ice were recognized at the 2012 Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
The former referee-in-chief of the St. Albert Minor Hockey Association and Hockey Alberta was honoured for his involvement as a coach, official and administrator for almost 50 years.
Popik, 65, never considered himself as hall of fame material.
"I was obviously pretty happy to make the hall of fame but I wondered why I was going in in front of some other guys I thought should have been in there before me, because there are a lot of people that have done a lot of work in hockey," said the life member of the Hockey Alberta referee council.
Popik was inducted to the hall along with the 1993/94 University of Lethbridge Pronghorns and the 1984/85 NAIT Ooks men's hockey teams, Allan Ferchuk, former head coach of the Red Deer College Kings, and George H. Harvie, former Alberta Amateur Hockey Association president, in the pioneer category.
Popik saluted the people behind the scenes during his induction speech last Saturday in Red Deer.
"I basically said I was honoured and the fact I was getting recognized had to do with the efforts of many other people who support and make things go smoothly before you drop the puck," said the Hockey Alberta 100 Year Centennial Award winner in 2007.
Popik's entourage at the gala totaled 29, including his mom and dad, wife Helene, four of their five children and eight of their nine grandchildren.
"I was glad they all came. It meant a lot to me," said the powerline contractor, a transmission lineman by trade.
Popik's legacy in the sport spanned various levels as a coach and referee from 1963 to 1974. He served as the central zone referee chairman from 1972 to 1982, and spent more than 20 years as a clinic instructor. He was the juvenile league governor for two years, senior council chairman for two years, a Hockey Alberta board member for nine years and the past chairman on the referee council for eight years.
Popik was also the referee-in-chief in Fort McLeod (two years) and St. Albert (six years) and held the same position twice for Hockey Alberta (1990-96 and 2005-10).
He was also one of the supervisors of officials for the 1995 IIHF World Junior Championship. Among his many assignments as referee-in-chief were the 2000 Royal Bank Cup, the Allan Cup in Stony Plain and female nationals in Edmonton.
Career highlights
"The top highlight for me would be sharing in the development of lots of officials. Lots of them went on to become higher level of officials. Some of them even went into the NHL. Some of them also went on to be administrators in their own communities. It's very gratifying seeing the success of those people," Popik said.
"I used to get some of my biggest rewards when I phoned guys to tell them they were going to go to an international competition. It used to be up to me when I was a referee-in-chief and we had certain criteria that people had to meet."
The gregarious official with a million one-liners is grateful to be part of the hockey community.
"You meet so many good people over the years and you have lasting relationships. I'm not sure if they're friends but they're definitely relationships and acquaintances."
Popik lost track of the number of games and championships he worked as an official.
"I did an international game with Canada versus Russia on the lines. That was neat," he said. "I remember I had two games where goals got scored right at the time the lights went out in the rink. Fifty per cent of the people were positive I was wrong and 50 per cent were positive I was right."
Popik described himself as a mediocre defenceman growing up in Thorsby while idolizing Tim Horton and the Toronto Maple Leafs. After reaching the juvenile level he turned to coaching bantams and midgets.
In Fort MacLeod in the early 1970s, while coaching a peewee house league team "made up of all the kids the other teams didn't want," Popik and another volunteer attended a referee's course in Lethbridge.
"We kind of did that more out of necessity than anything else. I was on Fort McLeod's hockey executive and we just didn't have enough officials," Popik said.
"I really enjoyed refereeing and I enjoyed minor hockey more than anything else. I worked quite a few levels of hockey, not that much junior but in senior I worked lines and refereed some games. I did some college as a referee too, but I always enjoyed the minor hockey the best. Back then we had AA midget, not AAA midget, and that was the best hockey you could ref in those days as far as I was concerned."
Policing the players
Player safety was his number one priority.
"I used to lay out more penalties than most guys did and hardly anybody got hurt when I was refereeing because of that. I figured that was my job," he said.
Developing a thick skin was paramount in the thankless job.
"As a referee you're 50 per cent wrong 100 per cent of the time. Some like the call and some don't," Popik said. "I actually liked guys yelling at me. It kept me sharp, but once they start to get personal and talk about your wife or daughter, it's time for them to leave. I used to allow guys to yell and swear once at me as long as nobody else heard it. The second time they were in trouble."
"You really can't take things personal, you just deal with it. Some of the best referees I saw over the years were guys who could referee without any emotion. The place could've caught on fire and you wouldn't have known by looking at him. They're doing their job and keeping the guys safe."
Turnover still remains high in the officiating ranks despite the zero tolerance policies in minor hockey.
"It's harder to develop referees today because the coaches aren't jerks like they used to be. If you're dealing with two jerks in a game you learn a lot of stuff in a short period of time. Nowadays you have to go through 20 games to get what we used to get in one game," Popik said. "At one time it was acceptable to bait a referee to see if the guy would cry or get chased out of the rink. Today not many other fans are willing to accept that so that's better. The fans and the coaches are better and a lot of the players are too."
