Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Steve Papp going out with a bang

Kelowna referee will call games in Kamloops at Memorial Cup

Jul 17, 2023 | 10:00 AM

This article first appeared April 22nd, and is the 9th most read article since RocketFAN was launched in early September.

It will be a round of golf Kelowna’s Steve Papp won’t soon forget.

Approaching the ninth-hole tee box at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna on Saturday, the veteran referee heard his cell phone ring.

“My phone went off and it was Kevin Muench [WHL Director of Officiating]. When I first saw his name come up, I thought it would be a positive phone call”, Papp told RocketFAN. “He [Muench] said congratulations, you have been selected to officiate at the Memorial Cup in Kamloops. Needless to say, it didn’t matter if I hit the green or not after that call.”

The good news couldn’t have come at a better time for Papp, who has been officiating for 19 seasons in the WHL, with 2022-2023 being his swan song before hanging up his whistle for the final time.

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“I have no clue what I shot on hole nine there”, Papp chuckled. “It was just nice to have my brother and girlfriend there to share the good news. All of us officials need family support to allow us to do these things.”

Papp is no stranger to calling games at the Memorial Cup. This will be his third appearance at the high-profile tournament after officiating in 2017 in Windsor, Ontario, and the 100th anniversary of the national championship held in Regina in 2018.

Papp has called the finals in both events, saying it is rewarding considering only four officials [two from the WHL – one from the QMJHL and OHL] are vying for one of two spots as the top teams clash for major junior hockey’s top prize.

“The four officials there are also so strong. Any one of them could do the final, so you have to put yourself in a spot, making sure you are communicating well and making the calls that are needed, but if you don’t get the final game, it doesn’t mean that you weren’t capable of doing it.”

Veteran official Chris Crich, who is also retiring after this season, is the other referee from the WHL participating in the 10-day showcase, featuring the host Kamloops Blazers, the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds, the Peterborough Petes from the Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Quebec Remparts.

“Whether it is a penalty in the first or the third [period], if it is a penalty, even with such high stakes, a call has to be made”, Papp outlining his mindset when refereeing at this high level. “There is always going to be a standard of judgment, and when these games get to be such a high level, every decision made is even more magnified.”

With the stakes high for all four participants, is the tendency to call the game differently than a typical WHL regular season game?

“You don’t call the game differently”, Papp said. “These players also play these games differently because it is do or die. It is one game. You are not playing a series. The players make sure they are not penalizing there teams by taking bad penalties, and the skill is so fast that they create the game for us. Our job is to go out there and call the penalties that are needed and try to stay out of the way and let the game play out the way it is supposed to.”

Papp, the oldest referee in the WHL at 38, guestimates he has called over 100 games at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops over the years, so this tournament has a certain comfortability level to it.

“Those fans [Kamloops] are doing an amazing job, and in that series against Seattle, that barn was rocking”, Papp commented after officiating game six between the Blazers and T-Birds in the Western Conference final. “I am sure it is going to be nuts the whole time there for the Memorial Cup.”

RocketFAN had to ask Papp if he senses that Blazers fans don’t like him, and the fact that he calls Kelowna home doesn’t help the cause.

“I have never had an issue with fans not liking the officials”, Papp said honestly. “They are cheering for their team. They have paid their money, and we may have to call a penalty against the team they love. I would say when I was younger, in some rinks, maybe I didn’t handle myself the best I could, but now with more experience, if they don’t like me, it’s all good.”

Papp says concluding his career at the 2023 Memorial Cup is extra special.

His grandmother [Terri Papp] lived in Kamloops and passed away at 89 years-old back in October of last year, and the family will gather in the city of 90,000 for a memorial service this Saturday.

“She was a big part of my officiating journey,” Papp concluded. “I used to go to Kamloops early and have lunch with her. She would go to a fair number of games. She was a very spiritual person”, Papp added.

“She will be there with me on the ice in Kamloops and will be watching over me.”