There are very few of those who are involved in sports, in any capacity at all, that will be able to claim a significant step forward occurring in the 2020-2021 season.

Local hockey official Kyle Lekun is hoping to be one of those rare exceptions.

Coming off his first year of full-time officiating south of the border in 2019-2020, the former Sudbury Wolves' draft pick and OHL linesman is currently working his second season in the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League).

Recently, he was added to the list of available referees at the disposal of the American Hockey League, one step shy of the NHL. While there is no guarantee of games, Lekun is encouraged, especially given that his next AHL game will be his first.

"I'm basically full-time with the East Coast, so technically, I'm sort of on loan to the AHL," he said Wednesday, having just completed a workout in Charleston (South Carolina), his home away from home this hockey season.

Yes, a step up the ladder certainly implies somewhat different demands on the men in the stripes. "Every level that you move up, it gets a little faster," said Lekun. "I hear that players are a little easier to talk to in the AHL."

"We're all in the same boat, all trying to make it to the NHL - so I think there's a little more communicating, all trying to help each other get better."

If anything, the bigger change will actually take Lekun back to his start as an official in Sudbury. "In northern Ontario, we four-man everything right up from bantam, but I've been doing three man for the last year," he said.

Where local loops like the Great North Midget Hockey League and the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League assign two referees and two linesmen for every game, the ECHL reverts to a more traditional three-man system.

Any AHL assignments that Lekun might garner this year will require him to tap into his GNML/NOJHL memory banks. Though the concept of a four-man officiating crew has only been around for a decade or two, the folks who oversee the process have done a nice job of trying to standardize an approach where penalty calls can be made by either one, or both of the men wearing the arm bands, at any time.

"Basically, they want us to call what we see," said Lekun. "If the bottom guy sees it, you have to call it. Hopefully, the back guy sees it too. It's always better if both hands go up."

In terms of areas of emphasis, instructions are not terribly dissimilar to what the guys working the OHL will hear, if a season kicks off this year. "They want us calling slashing, because they want to protect the guys' hands," said Lekun.

"That, and the hits to the head are the biggest things - and infractions that take away a scoring chance. You really have to be aware of that. And I've had some interference calls off the draw, where guys are running picks to create more space."

Just one year into the pro ranks, Lekun already sounds more seasoned. The graduate of Lasalle Secondary School wants to give himself a good, solid shot at making it as far as he can.

"I've dropped 15 pounds, so I'm definitely lighter on the ice," he said. "I'm a little faster, I get going a little quicker. Last year was really my first year doing three men, so a lot of the supervisors worked with me on my positioning, not getting caught behind the play too much, making sure you're getting to the net."

And then there is the improvement that you take upon yourself. "I watch a lot of hockey," noted Lekun. "I study my games to see if there were calls that I should have let go, were there calls that I should have made."

An avid golfer, Lekun takes full advantage of his off days in the southern United States to enjoy some time on the links. Orlando, with an ECHL team that plays out of the home of the NBA Magic, is always a special experience.

"It has the feel and the look of an NHL game, just because of the lighting," said Lekun. Yet it was one of his most northernly stops that the SMHA product enjoyed the most.

"Fort Wayne was cool, just because my dad (Mike) played there." From 1986 to 1988, the Oshawa Generals' alumnus, who topped out his OHL career with a 31-goal campaign, would accumulate 532 penalty minutes.

"A bunch of the arena staff remembered my dad," said Kyle. Yes, one would think so. The penalty box crew had time to form quite the friendship. "The zamboni driver, a couple of the TV guys - and a guy that I think was team president," added the younger Lekun.

Times have changed. Kyle Lekun undergoes a COVID-19 test before every game. And where his father was on the receiving end of the calls, the son is the person in charge of assessing the infractions.

Both, however, were pursuing their hockey dreams, with Kyle looking to take that next step forward in a year where very few will do so.