Trio of NHL Referees Officially Barred From Officiating in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Photo credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
The NHL has revealed a list of referees who will officiate in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and there are three names who have officially been excluded.
Each and every year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs provide us with some memorable moments. Some of those moments come by way of highlight reel plays or violent altercations. Some, however, come by way of botched officiating.
There's really no way to prepare for botched officiating, but the NHL seems to have a pretty good handle on the guys who can handle the pressure and the guys who simply aren't consistent enough to perform at that level.
This week, the NHL confirmed its list of NHL referees tasked with officiating in the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs. As per Scouting the Refs, there are 3 NHL referees from last year's playoffs who have been excluded from this year's playoffs.
First, let's look at the list of referees who will be officiating in the playoffs:
Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert, Frederick L'Ecuyer, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Kendrick Nicholson, Dan O'Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Garrett Rank, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Graham Skilliter, Francois St. Laurent, Furman South, and Kelly Sutherland.
If you're noticing a few notable absences, that's because Steve Kozari, Chris Lee and Tom Chmielewski have been outright excluded -- Kozari due to injury. Meanwhile Chris Schlenker, Corey Syvret have been named as Standby Refs, in case of an injury.
Naturally, Leafs fans won't be pleased to see Wes McCauley on the list of playoff regular, as their record in games that McCauley officiates is not particularly strong. In fact, from 2016-2023, the Leafs were 0-9 in playoff games officiated by McCauley.
It's important to note that McCauley did not officiate during the Conference Finals or Stanley Cup Final in 2024..
This year, the Maple Leafs have drawn the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 after winning the Atlantic Division and reserving the right to play the top Wild Card seed.
There's no confirmation yet on which referees will draw the assignments in this Leafs-Sens series, but it's safe to say that Leafs Nation will be hopeful to avoid McCauley.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 19 | 7609 ANSWERS Trio of NHL Referees Officially Barred From Officiating in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Do you think Wes McCauley is biased against the Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 5792 | 76.1 % |
| No | 1817 | 23.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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