Brad Meier

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Meier grew up south of the border watching his father play professional hockey until the age of nine when his family moved to Saskatoon, Canada. He later attended high school there and played all of his minor hockey near his new hometown before reaching the Junior B level. His officiating journey started at the age of 12 working all levels of minor hockey. After high school, Meier attended the University of Saskatchewan (USask) continuing to work his way up to through many Leagues throughout Saskatchewan.

After graduating from the College of Physical Education and then the College of Education, he was hired by the City of Saskatoon Fire Department as a full-time firefighter while still officiating hockey games. In 1987, Meier had a breakthrough in his officiating career when he reached the Western Hockey League (WHL) a league he would work for a total of 12 seasons. His on-ice performance was soon recognized during his time with the WHL and he was soon offered professional opportunities with assignments in the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL), the International Hockey League (IHL) and in the American Hockey League (AHL) while also reaching the highest level of certification with Hockey Canada.

 Hockey Canada assigned him to a few international competitions during his amateur journey that included; the 1995 World Juniors (Red Deer, Canada), the 1996 World Championships (Vienna, Austria) and the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

 The National Hockey League offered him an NHL minor league referee contract in the summer of 1998. With his professional officiating career taking off, Meier retired from the Saskatoon Fire Department that same summer to focus solely on his new challenge. He would work a total of two seasons as a minor league referee, splitting his time between AHL and NHL games before being promoted to a full-time NHL referee status in the summer of 2000.