NHL makes a controversial choice of referees for Game 6.

The National Hockey League has assigned its officiating crew for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, but that decision will not be met without controversy. 

First, according to a report from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the 2 referees who will get the call for Sunday night's game will be referee Chris Rooney and referee Gord Dwyer. The names will be very familiar to Bruins fans who watched Boston's second round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets with a careful eye. In Game 4 of that series the Bruins found themselves on the wrong end of a missed call when a puck hit the protective netting and play was allowed to continue. That play would quickly result in a goal from Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin and although it would not hurt the Bruins in the end, plenty was made of that missed call by the officials following the game. 

To be fair to both Rooney and Dwyer here, a great deal of the controversy following the game actually stemmed from the fact that the play was not reviewable due to a quirk in the National Hockey League's rule book. Had they been allowed to review the play under NHL rules I have no doubt they would have done so and made the correct call in the end, but you can hardly blame fans for having little faith in NHL officials after the debacle that has been the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That being said both Rooney and Dwyer have worked as a tandem twice already in this series, covering both Game 2 and Game 4 in the Final.

Hopefully regardless of the outcome this evening officiating will not be a factor, as that could truly put a permanent stain on these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Some like Bruins insider Joe Haggerty however are already furious that both Dwyer and Rooney are being allowed to officiate the Stanley Cup Final at all after what he perceives to be an unforgivable mistake in the Columbus series.

"All I said was they blew a massive call already in these playoffs," wrote Haggerty. "They shouldn't even be reffing the Cup Final after that debacle."