Tannum Wyonzek and his older brother Tarrington, grandsons of Henry and Anne Wyonzek of Canora, and sons of Pat and Karen Wyonzek, keep getting closer to realizing their goal of being NHL on-ice officials. Each has had the experience of working as a linesman at international hockey tournaments over the past couple of years.
Tannum, 21 and Tarrington, 26, grew up in Yorkton, and spent quite a bit of time in Canora during those years, said Tarrington.
Since the Wyonzek family owns a cabin at Crystal Lake, the boys used to spend summers there. Tannum and Tarrington worked at the Canora Golf Course during the summer until they decided to focus more intently on their officiating careers.
Tarrington played hockey for a number of Canora teams, including the Canora Senior Cobras. He said that being on the midget team which won the provincial championship was probably the highlight of his career as a hockey player.
But by the age of 19, he decided it was highly unlikely that he would be able to play hockey professionally. Tarrington had started refereeing occasionally at the age of 12 to make some extra spending money, but really began to focus on working as an on-ice official after he gave up playing hockey competitively.
“I believed this was the best way for me to stay involved with hockey and increase my chances of having a career in the NHL,” said Tarrington.
After attending an official’s clinic in Yorkton, he was invited to a Western Hockey League (WHL) officials’ camp. While still a teenager, he was hired by the WHL, one of the top-ranked junior leagues in the world.
Tarrington has been a WHL linesman for six years and generally works games in the eastern division, which includes teams in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Always looking to advance his career, in 2017 Tarrington signed a contract as a linesman with the American Hockey League (AHL), which is just one step below the NHL. The AHL works together with the WHL when it comes to scheduling games, which allows him to officiate games in both leagues.
“I might work a WHL game in Brandon on a Wednesday, drive to Winnipeg for AHL Manitoba Moose games on Thursday and Saturday, and then head back to Brandon for another WHL game on Sunday,” explained Tarrington.
In addition to his regular league work, Tarrington has officiated in a variety of tournaments in recent years. Shortly after he began seriously pursuing his officiating career, he was selected for the World Under-17 challenge tournament when it was held in Nova Scotia.
In 2017 he worked as a linesman at the NHL’s Young Stars tournament involving top AHL prospects for the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets who were all looking to impress their teams enough to win NHL jobs.
Tarrington officiated the 2018 Memorial Cup in May, a tournament involving teams from the WHL, OHL (Ontario Hockey League) and QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.)
In November he was a linesman in the Canada Russia Super Series which featured the WHL team competing against the Russians.
After the calendar flipped to 2019, Tarrington made another important step in his career when he was recruited for his first ever IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) event. He worked as a linesman in the World Under-18 tournament in Sweden from April 18 to 28.
“I had a good tournament and was chosen for the gold medal game between Russia and the host team from Sweden,” he said in an interview with the Canora Courier after returning from Sweden. “The rink was sold out and the atmosphere was rockin’. It was an exciting game, with Sweden coming out on top, 4 to 3 in overtime.”
“I told everyone this tournament was for Gramps (Henry Wyonzek) before the tournament, so it was great that it turned out so well.”
Tarrington said he loves working in important games with high intensity, and it’s also an opportunity to show what he can do to those who are looking for on-ice officials in future events.
Shortly after speaking with the Courier, he worked game seven of the WHL championship series between the Vancouver Giants and the Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders thrilled the home fans with a 3 to 2 win in overtime, and then Tarrington was asked to work the Memorial Cup tournament for the second year in a row. This year’s event is being held in Halifax, N.S from May 17 to 26.
Even with his busy schedule as a linesman, Tarrington continues to referee games in midget AAA and Junior A (Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.)
He said his focus is on continuing to advance his on-ice performance.
“I want to improve my skating and my overall fitness,” said Tarrington. “Whenever you get physical fatigue, that’s usually followed by mental fatigue, which likely leads to mistakes. And unlike the players, on-ice officials don’t get line changes.”
His long-term goal is still to get to the NHL, but in the shorter term, Tarrington is hoping to be asked to work at a World Junior Hockey Championship Tournament.
When the Canora Courier last spoke to Tarrington’s younger brother Tannum, he was preparing to work as a linesman in the World Under-17 tournament in November of 2017 in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, B.C. During a recent interview, he said it turned out to be an awesome experience.
“The tournament lasted for about two weeks, and I was doing games almost daily,” Tannum said.
His first game was between Russia and Sweden.
“It was a whole new experience for me because of the language barrier,” he recalled. “So I had to use body language to get them to understand me. I learned pretty quick that hockey has its own language.”
At the end of the tournament, Tarrington was chosen to work the gold medal game between Canada and the United States.
“Early on, the U.S. went up 4 to 0 and the building was just dead,” he said. “Then Canada came back and narrowed the gap to 5 to 3, and the atmosphere was electric with the crowd going crazy. The U.S. held on for the win, but it was still a great experience to work such an exciting, high pressure game.”
Tannum said his success at this tournament “puts me on the list” to possibly work in even more important tournaments in the future.
He said seeing his older brother’s success early in his official career made it easier to choose the same career. “I keep reminding him that I was a year younger than he was when he worked at the World Under-17.”
Tannum played hockey and worked as a referee until he reached midget age, when he made the decision to give up playing and focus on officiating, which he believes gives him a better chance of pursuing a professional career in hockey.
During the past season he worked as a referee in the SJHL (Saskatchewan Junior League) and in the midget AAA league finals, as well as completing his third season as a linesman in the WHL, occasionally working games together with his brother.
“I know I’ve seen Dad with tears in his eyes at those games, so that’s pretty special,” said Tannum.
The two brother said they’re constantly talking and texting back and forth about different in-game situations they deal with, always trying to help each other get better, each with the goal of making it to the NHL some day.
“Being brothers, we don’t have any trouble being honest with each other. In fact, sometimes we may be too honest,” joked Tarrington.
