Official update on injured NHL referee Chris Rooney.

On Sunday night, during Game 7 between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, National Hockey League referee Chris Rooney suffered a rather gruesome looking injury while calling the game.

Rooney was struck in the face by the stick of Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola after Mikkola was battling for the puck in the corner with Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. As the two were battling, Mikkola would strike Rooney in the face with a follow-through from his stick, but it was the manner in which it struck Rooney that caused all of the damage.

The angle from which Mikkola's stick came at Rooney's face would cause his visor to be lifted before the stick hammered Rooney right in the eye, slashing him across the face almost like a knife. It was immediately apparent that Rooney was in distress as when he removed his hand from his eye and placed that same hand on the boards, the boards had quickly turned red.

Here is a look at the replay of the incident:

To no one's surprise, Rooney would be unable to continue in Game 7 and instead left the game to receive medical treatment. Thankfully it sounds like the NHL official avoided the worst case scenario, with the majority of the damage located above his eye rather than directly on the eye itself.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman received official word from the league itself and has confirmed that Rooney did require stitches to repair the damage but, other than the stitches, he otherwise appears to be relatively ok.

This is great news and hopefully Rooney will be able to quickly return to his duties in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.