The four-man line-up of on-ice officials at the February 1 match between the Royal Military College Paladins and the West Point Black Knights marked their own hockey milestone in the game.
While West Point defeated RMC 3-2 in Kingston, Ontario, in their first game since pre-pandemic 2020, the 86th Challenge Cup; Major Kevin Mitchell, Corporal Andrew Fairweather, Master Corporal Yannick Gagnon and Aviator Aidan Cavanagh were the first ever all-Canadian Armed Forces slate of officials to call the game.
Gagnon, a military cook by trade and production supervisor at 14 Wing Greenwood’s Annapolis Café; is the CAF’s acting officiating manager. With over 20 years of officiating, he’s also in the middle of a four-year term as the CAF Atlantic region’s referee-in-chief.
“It was my job to pick the officials for the Challenge Cup,” Gagnon says. “I’m always looking at how I can retain and bring people into the officiating world, and I looked at this game. In the past, it’s been officiated by retired CAF members, or a mix of military and Ontario Hockey refs. I went to the RMC coach and told him I wanted all CAF officials. He thought it was great. And, the Ontario officials assignor was fully supportive of what we were trying to do.”
Gagnon selected Mitchell, the CAF’s referee-in-chief and an air combat systems officer at 17 Wing Winnipeg. Together, they found 20-year-old Cavanaugh, an aerospace control operator with 21 Squadron at 22 Wing North Bay, while watching the online CAF Ontario region men’s hockey tournament. Fairweather, a material management technician, was picked for what he gives back to the game in Gagetown, officiating for everything from U10 to military hockey.
“We were really impressed – Andrew puts in the work; he gives back to the CAF. We really wanted to recognize him and get him to this game.”
When a fourth official broke his foot just days before the game, and with Gagnon attending to supervise the officials, “I skated.” Gagnon and Cavanagh served as the linespeople, while Mitchell and Fairweather were the game refs.
“We’re the third team out there so, remember the goal: we wanted our officiating to be solid, second-to-none.”
Gagnon says the first period was “intense,” including a fight.
“We expected that – it’s Canada versus the United States, and it’s hockey. The arena had maybe 3,000 people in it, and we saw soldiers from both countries in uniform – and that’s nice to see: we may face-off on the ice and this may only be one game, but we’re going to be working together, NATO-focused. Building camaraderie and relationships can grow out of this.
“Our goal was to show the level of officiating you can get from a CAF officiating opportunity. We had great comments, the coaches were coming in to say we were very professional, ethical and we allowed their players to play in a respectful way
“Mission accomplished.”
14 Wing Greenwood’s Master Corporal Yannick Gagnon, the Canadian Armed Forces’ acting officiating manager, was a last-minute skater in the all-CAF officials’ roster in the February 1 Challenge Cup, between the Royal Military College and West Point military teams
An all-Canadian Armed Forces’ officials line-up skated for the 86th Challenge Cup between the RMC Paladins and the West Point Black Knights February 1, including, from left, 22 Wing North Bay’s Aviator Aidan Cavanagh, 14 Wing Greenwood’s Master Corporal Yannick Gagnon, 17 Wing Winnipeg’s Major Kevin Mitchell and 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown’s Corporal Andrew Fairweather.
The Royal Military College RMC Paladins hosted the West Point Black Knights February 1 in the 86th Challenge Cup.
An all-Canadian Armed Forces’ officials line-up skated for the 86th Challenge Cup between the RMC Paladins and the West Point Black Knights February 1, including, from left, 22 Wing North Bay’s Aviator Aidan Cavanagh, 14 Wing Greenwood’s Master Corporal Yannick Gagnon, 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown’s Corporal Andrew Fairweather and 17 Wing Winnipeg’s Major Kevin Mitchell.