In a case of poacher turns gamekeeper, SkyCity Stampede’s biggest supporter has put skates on and joined the ranks of officialdom.
Adam Nagy has very vocally supported the Queenstown team, home and away, since about 2010.
On June 9, however, he made his New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) debut as a linesman for the first game of Stampede’s double-header against Auckland’s Botany Swarm.
By Saturday, he and his colleagues were marching Stampede captain Mitchell Frear, and a Swarm opponent, off the ice following a set-to.
Nagy, who has refereed local social league hockey for about six years, was encouraged by players, including ex-Stampede captain Matt Schneider, to take the step up.
The 39-year-old Morrison’s Irish Pub owner says a catalyst came five years ago when he complained to NZIHL about the standard of three officials.
‘‘All we ask for is consistent, competent and trained officials,’’ he wrote.
‘‘Presently, we are endangering players with the level of officiating that is in place for them.’’
Nagy tells Mountain Scene: ‘‘We complained about it so much, as super-fans, and their response generally was, ‘why don’t you put on the skates?’’’
He subsequently went to two training camps to qualify as, initially, a linesman.
Following his debut, he admits he needs to improve his puck-dropping and skating, especially backwards.
However, he was also told by some players he was the fairest official they’d seen for a long time.
Nagy’s next aim is to referee NZIHl games then, ultimately, internationals, even up to Winter Olympics level — ‘‘it’s an eight-year goal’’.
Having made his fair share of sideline noise, he says it was surreal on the ice — ‘‘you just block out everything’’.
So are his days as a super-fan over?
‘‘Yes and no, if I’m not an official I can go to the game and watch it; if I’m an official, then I’m not a super-fan any more.’’
The hardest thing, he says, was finding a non-Stampede beanie for last weekend’s games.
Ironically, his super-fan ‘partner in crime’, Nate Hedwig, is also no longer screaming through the perspex this season — he’s now Stampede’s co-manager.
