Eryk Przywara finished his seventh season as a hockey official on the ice in Utica, New York: he was selected to officiate the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 18U National Championship tournament, held in early April.
“I made the bold choice to (drive) the 13-hour (trek) which, in hindsight, was a better option than flying, even though I was called a mad man all weekend. I ended up skating nine games, (including) the semifinals and had a phenomenal time; it was a great experience,” said Przywara, 20, who lives in Palatine.
“Overall, the Nationals went well. I’m very pleased with my performance and how far I made it. All the feedback I received was positive, and despite not making it to (the) championship (game), I learned a lot from the supervisors and fellow officials … and just had a great time.”
Przywara was wearing orange as a referee for a top-tier quarterfinal game, the Maryland Ice Devils against the Arizona Bobcats. “It was a phenomenal game, a pleasure working that game. It was fun, fast-paced and hard fought,” he said.
Przywara, a Level 4 official, worked about 175 games this past season, including Nationals. He mainly worked local high school action, plus Tier II midgets, plus a spattering of other games. He’s regularly skating games in Mt. Prospect, Northbrook, Glenview, Evanston, Lincolnwood, West Dundee, Vernon Hills and Lake Forest, among other rinks.
He also officiated at the United Center, skated in a Tier I championship for the third year in a row, and more. His 2024-25 season included:
- Highland Park vs. Deerfield at Highland Park.
- Glenbrook North vs. New Trier Green in Northbrook.
- New Trier Green vs. Loyola Gold in Lincolnwood.
- New Trier Blue vs. New Trier Green in the sweet 16 round of the Illinois High School Hockey State Championship.
- Game 1 of the 2010 Tier I state championships.
- The JV Blue State Championship at the United Center.
Looking back, Przywara learned at Nationals “to not let one game affect you too much; learn from mistakes but don’t dwell on them and always be open to criticism from fellow officials and supervisors,” he said.
Przywara’s run as an official started … as a bantam-aged player. Before practice, his coach said Przywara should give officiating a shot.
“I remember before my first game; it was at Franklin Park I was all nervous, stomach in a knot and anxious as hell,” he said. “From my first season, I still remember skating house league championships at Fifth Third (Arena) when it was freshly built and still (then known as) MB Ice Arena.”
Przywara said his officiating journey has been aided by the local Advanced Development Program (ADP), which has been a "huge help," he said. "(ADP) helped me get a foot in the door and helped me skate higher level games earlier (in my career),” he said. “I remember getting the opportunity to skate high school games at (age) 15 and going (on the ice as a referee) for U16 Tier 2 (games) at age 16. I probably wouldn’t be where I am at today without the help and guidance of the ADP.
Off the ice, Przywara works in Morton Grove as a body tech for a large multi-shop organization.
His playing career was … limited and low-level, he said. He skated for the Niles Rangers, but, “it helped me get used to the pressure in high emotion games,” he said.
Przywara praised many local officials who have helped his career, including Brad Baumruck, Jameson Gronert, Evan Davis, Ibrahim Arifi, Doug Hart and many others.
Calling Penalties With …. Referee Eric Przywara
Goals For The 2025-26 Season: “I’d like to work the Tier I state (tournament) again, make a return to the United Center and to Nationals … and help the development of newer officials.”
Outside of Illinois: “When I lived in Wyoming for a season, the people I met in the IHOA helped me get connected with the assignors out there, which led to me to meet Seth Mukai, who greatly helped me develop as an official. When I met Seth, I received a lot of good criticism which I applied. Skating for him in Colorado whenever we didn’t have local games in Laramie really helped me learn, whether it was from him or the partners I skated with. He helped me (referee) my first ACHA games and truly taught me a lot.”
Favorite Officiating Story: “I have a lot of good ones … it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but, if I had to pick, it would be learning that I am a state record holder in Wyoming Hockey. I’ll spare the long back story, but it was a state high school semifinal game and the record is for most penalties assessed in a regulation hockey game. I can’t remember the exact number but it’s about 40 penalties called, with plenty of misconducts and game misconducts.”
Brotherly Love: His younger brother, Albert, skated this past season for Saint Viator: “It was great watching him play his best hockey in the best league in the state … and tear up the league. It also got slightly awkward, but also funny, when I’d be working teams they play against and coaches telling me they don’t like my brother, but that he’s doing really well in the league.”