Agassiz hockey ref worked world championship tourney in Slovenia
Published 5:00 am Wednesday, December 17, 2025
An Agassiz-raised hockey referee recently officiated in a prestigious European tournament.
The BCHL recently selected Brennan Walker as a linesperson for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U20 World Championship in Slovenia that ended this past weekend. Walker was the only Canadian official in the Group A division and was one of seven linespeople selected for the job.
Walker primarily works a linesperson in the Western Hockey League, American Hockey League an USPORTS Canada West. He is on the ice two or three times per week across B.C., Washington state and Oregon. This past week marks his second time officiating in Europe; he worked the World University Games in Italy in January.
“-When I first found out I would be able to officiate for the IIHF, it was surreal,” Walker told The Observer. “I first started officiating hockey 12 or so years ago for Hope and Chilliwack Minor Hockey. I never imagined I’d make it this far. We as officials make a lot of sacrifices, so to be rewarded with this is a huge honour.”
Walker said the Slovenia tournament was a great experience.
“Getting to work high level hockey while experiencing a new part of the world is not something a lot of people get to do,” Walker said. “I feel very fortunate to be able to have these opportunities.”
Walker said he enjoyed meeting other officiants from across the world.
“I had only met one of the officials at this tournament previously, so you’re forced to make friends fast,” he said. “Luckily it was a great group and by the end of the week we were great friends.”
Walker said he hopes to continue working higher-level tournaments such as the World Juniors or perhaps one day, the Olympic Games.
Back in 2017, Walker made Black Press Media headlines when he was invited to the B.C. Hockey’s Officiating Program of Excellence –an elite, high-performance camp – in Shawningan Lake. Camp attendees received instruction from NHL officiating manager Ken Wheler and B.C. Hockey director of officiating Sean Raphael.
Six teams from across Europe competed in this year’s IIHF tournament – Kazakhstan, Austria, Norway, Slovenia, France and Ukraine. Norway defeated Slovenia in the final game 9-2 on Dec. 13 to win the world championship.