For more than 30 years, Kevin Muench has dedicated himself to the game of hockey – not as a player or coach, but as one of the most respected officials in the game. As an official on the ice and supervisor and administrator off of it, Kevin has seen and done it all in the game, earning himself this year’s Hockey Canada Officiating Award.
Although his on-ice career at the high levels of Canadian hockey ended in the mid 1990s, Kevin has stayed very involved in the game, working with Hockey Canada, the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and the Western Hockey League to bring new ideas to the game and ensure the quality of the officiating keeps up with the quality of the on-ice product.
Kevin spent 13 seasons on the ice as a WHL referee, earning assignments to the National Junior A Championship, Canadian university championship and Memorial Cup as a Level VI official, and in 1992 reached the pinnacle of the officiating world when he worked the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville, France, the lone Canadian to receive the assignment.
Following his retirement as an active official, Kevin stayed involved with the WHL, supervising games for the league and helping develop its officiating program. He was rewarded for his hard work in 2001 when he was named the WHL’s director of officiating, a position he still holds today. Outside of his work for the WHL, Kevin has been heavily involved in Hockey Canada’s Officiating Program of Excellence and its officiating committee, bringing about changes to procedures, supervision and instruction at the national level.
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