NHL punishes two referees for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup

The NHL has made the call on who will get to make the call Wednesday night in Boston when the Bruins will take on the St. Louis Blues in the ultimate Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. 

However, it seems that in the process, the NHL has chosen to punish two referees, who many expected to see in stripes at the TD Garden tonight. 

According to Sportnet’s John Shannon, referees Chris Rooney and Gord Dwyer will officiate Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues.  That’s the same crew who worked Sunday’s Game 6, as well as Games 2 and 4 of the series.

This is the first time this postseason that the NHL has scheduled the same two officials in back-to-back games this postseason, meaning that the league has made a cautious effort to punish the other pairing in the Cup Final rotation – Kelly Sutherland and Steve Kozari. 

Sutherland and Kozari were working on the night of Game 5 when the Blues scored the winning goal in Boston after the referees missed an important penalty on Tyler Bozak. Clearly, some believe they couldn’t be trusted for the final contest of the year. 

They are expected to remain on standby. 

Dwyer will be working his first Cup Final tonight.