Officials Revealed For Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario; Leafs Avoid Controversial Referee
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The NHL announced the officials for Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario with the Leafs being able to avoid one of the more controversial referees for at least one game
On Saturday, ahead of the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the NHL announced its list of officials that qualified to officiate the playoffs.
To no one's surprise, the likes of Wes McCauley, Dan O'Rourke, Graham Skilliter, Francois St. Laurent and Kelly Sutherland were all included, leaving Leafs Nation uneasy about who would officiate Game 1 of their 1st Round series against the Ottawa Senators.
Thankfully, Leafs Nation was able to avoid Wes McCauley for at least Game 1 against the Senators. Instead, they will get Brian Pochmara and Garrett Rank to kick off what is expected to be a highly emotional series.
Officiating in recent playoff series has been quite questionable and controversial for the Leafs, specifically in big moments like Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022, so hopefully the Leafs will be able to take advantage of not having McCauley for the opening game of their series.
The Leafs enter the post-season with everyone as healthy as possible, while the Senators are dealing with a handful of injuries, including a rumoured injury to captain Brady Tkachuk, which should give the Leafs the upper hand early, especially if the game is called in a decent manner.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 20 | 2524 ANSWERS Officials Revealed For Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario; Leafs Avoid Controversial Referee Has officiating been too bias against the Leafs in past playoff series? | ||
| Of Course | 1106 | 43.8 % |
| No | 378 | 15 % |
| At times, definitely | 850 | 33.7 % |
| It balances out | 190 | 7.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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