NORTHEAST — Three Northeast residents were recognized by Hockey Saskatchewan for their contributions to minor hockey as officials.
Paige Haskey of Wadena and Ruger LeClare of Tisdale received most improved official awards, while Stephen Gray of Humboldt received a most deserving official award.
Each year, Hockey Saskatchewan recognizes outstanding volunteers from the North and South zones as well as a coach through a nomination process. The Hockey Saskatchewan Officiating Development Program annually recognizes 12 officials with awards in three categories; Most Improved, Most Deserving and Most Promising, which are selected by the task teams at the end of each season. Winners are selected from the north one season and the south the following year. This 2022-23 season, the award winners were selected from zones 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Hockey Saskatchewan announced the winners on May 23.
Paige Haskey
Haskey, who received a awarded most improved official award, started officiating at the age of 12. Over the past four seasons, she has been mentored by numerous officials and has proven to be able to work hockey games from the U9 level up to U18. Her development advanced after attending the Sask First Officiating Program Female Regional Camps and being selected to work at high-performance program tournaments over the years.
Being the oldest official in her community at 18, she invested a lot of time coaching younger officials in surrounding areas and recently elevated her range, working up to Male U18 AA and Female U18 AAA this season.
Next year, Haskey plans to move to attend university and continue to advance her abilities as well as pursue new opportunities as an official. Paige has a love for the game, not only as an official but as a player as well, as she was a member of the Female U18 A provincial champion East Central Fillies. She continues to gain more confidence with the experience and support she receives in new opportunities.
Ruger LeClare
Ruger LeClare of Tisdale also received a most improved official award. LeClare, at just 15 years old, already has six years of experience under his belt, which is something that came naturally in his household with an older sister and two younger siblings also officiating. This season was Ruger’s first for being eligible to attend the Sask First Officiating Program and he made the most of it learning a lot at the camp. From there, he was selected for the U15 Top 80 tournament.
Still very much in the development stage of his career, Ruger works a lot of lower-level minor hockey but stepped up to the challenge through Sask First and was also given some most opportunities to work AA hockey this season, all while still playing with the Tisdale U18 team. Ruger has worked on keeping the focus in each game he works on and looks to continue his development as an official through a consistent effort and positive attitude on the ice.
Stephen Gray
Stephen Gray of Humboldt won in the most deserving category. Gray started his officiating career in 1979 while living in Regina where he worked minor hockey and worked into Senior leagues in southern Saskatchewan. After attending the Sask First Officiating Program in 1987, his career moved forward into U18 AAA, Junior A and Junior B and continued at those levels after moving to Humboldt in 1991 and earning his Level 4 in 1995. Like most who are officiating into their 50s, the game counts on the ice are starting to decrease, but Stephen stays involved by stepping up to help out younger officials as a mentor on the ice in the central area of the province.
