NHL announces who will officiate in the Stanley Cup Finals; Wes McCauley among those selected

With the Stanley Cup Finals set to begin on the 3rd of June, the NHL has officially selected the referees and linesmen that will be patrolling the ice in the final series between the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights. The final cut made way for 5 referees and 5 linesmen.

The referees selected: Steve Kozari (skating in his 4th Finals), Wes McCauley (skating in his 10th finals), Dan O'Rourke (skating in his 6th finals), Chris Rooney (skating in his 6th finals), and Kelly Sutherland (skating in his 10th finals). They went with an experienced group, have no first-timers, and missing the cut from the Conference Finals were Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert, and Chris Lee.

The linesmen selected: Steve Barton (skating in his 3rd finals), Scott Cherrey (skating in his 5th finals), Brad Kovachik (skating in his 5th finals), Kiel Murchison (skating in his 3rd finals), and Jonny Murray (skating in his 6th finals). Following the same trend as the referees, there will no first-timers, and the ones missing the cut from the Conference Finals include: David Brisebois, Matt MacPherson, and Bevan Mills.

There are 2 differences in relation to the officiating groups compared to previous rounds: 1) there are no standby referees and linesmen but there will be 1 backup referee and linesman on standby for each game. 2) Officials will no longer be paired up so there will be a different pair for every single game except Game 7. That's when the best 4 officials will be chosen for the most important game of the season.


It's interesting to note that every referee pairing got cut in half except Wes McCauley and Dan O'Rourke. They also all get extra bonuses because they are paid by round and not by game. Referees earn 27,000$ and linesmen receive 17,250$.