NHL makes a controversial call with its choice of referees for Game 7

According to a report from NHL insider John Shannon of Sportsnet, the league will make no change to its officiating crew from Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, meaning that referees Gord Dwyer and Chris Rooney will officiate Game 7 on Wednesday evening.

The pair did such a good job managing Game 6 that the league has evidently decided to drop their policy of not allowing officials to referee teams in back to back games. Really though, when it comes down to a one game, winner take all matchup it’s understandable why the league would want to go with two guys who have proven that they have what it takes. There’s simply no way the NHL can suffer through another controversial call or non-call in its season’s penultimate game.

Dwyer and Rooney have officiated Games 2, 4 and 6 of the series, and have called things pretty evenly assessing nine power plays to the Bruins and 10 to the Blues. Still, Bruins fan should feel fortunate that Dwyer and Rooney are calling the game, as opposed to the series' other crew of Kelly Sutherland and Steve Kozari. Check out this report from WBZ Boston:

The Bruins are just 1-2 with Dwyer and Rooney calling games this series, but Boston fans are probably happy to hear that pairing will get Game 7. Kelly Sutherland and Steve Kozari were the other referee pairing for the Cup Final, and came under some serious fire after they decided to swallow their whistles when Tylzer Bozak slew-footed Noel Acciari late in Game 5 in Boston, leading directly to the eventual game-winning goal for St. Louis. The NHL has never admitted to the missed call, but keeping Sutherland and Kozari away from a deciding game sends a pretty clear message. Game 5 was easily the worst-officiated game of the series (and potentially the postseason), while Game 6 went down without any issues.

So, while the decision to roll with Gord Dwyer and Chris Rooney may anger some staunch hockey traditionalists, again it’s easy to see why the NHL has made it.

Good call?