Patrick Myers' career as a hockey referee has come a long way since he moved out of his childhood home in Pain Court.
The now-veteran on-ice official recently added an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Championship Series to his resume after officiating two games between the London Knights and the Oshawa Generals earlier this Spring. That capped off his 13th season overseeing games in the OHL.
"I guess lucky number 13 was my first time in the final... it was a good experience, something I've always been shooting for, so it was definitely worth the wait," said Myers. "I was fortunate enough to do the game in London where they won on home ice, so it was just a cool atmosphere to see that take place."
Myers said while he was aware of the importance of the games he was overseeing, he was able to quickly dial in.
"It's kind of like what the players say, when the puck drops and they get a hit in or a shot in, it's business as usual -- I think it's the same for officials," said Myers. "Once the game gets started, all of the other outside factors that you might have thought of before the game kind of go away and you just do your job."
Overseeing the OHL Championship Series adds to Myers' growing resume, which also includes refereeing at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2013.
In addition to refereeing OHL games, Myers told CK News Today he also officiates some OHA and some minor hockey games and even finds time to coach officials in the OMHA and the OWHA -- watching them and giving them feedback to help them improve.
But while he is investing time in the future generation of referees, he also has some higher goals for his own career on the ice, too.
"Before this season, I guess one of my goals would have been officiating in the [OHL] Final Championship Series, so now that I've been able to check off that box, the next step would definitely be shooting towards being selected for the Memorial Cup," said Myers. "Hopefully that doesn't take 13 more years... it's something that I'll definitely shoot for and work towards."
Myers was also recently recognized for his hard work and dedication to officiating with the Ken Bodendistel Character Award, which "recognizes an OHL official who demonstrates a passion and dedication to officiating and the game of hockey, who best exemplifies leadership on and off the ice, professionalism, and is respected by OHL member teams, players, and fellow officials."
He said the call notifying him of the award came as quite a surprise.
"I was on my way to game 3 of the final series heading to Oshawa and the director of officiating Conrad Haché called me," said Myers. "I was kind of curious as to see what he was calling about because I was already on my way to the rink."
Myers said he was humbled and honoured to be selected for the award, especially because Bondendistel was "pretty instrumental" in helping his development as a referee.
"It means a lot to me to think that the impact he had on officials... that other people think I have some of those characteristics, too," said Myers.
Now that hockey is on a break for the summer, Myers -- who also works as a full-time office and sales rep for a property maintenance company -- said he plans to take a break as well and spend some more time with his family.
- With files from Matt Weverink