NHL officials who botched calls against the Leafs in Games 6 and 7 will officiate in the Stanley Cup Finals
We knew this day would come and yet here we are and many of us are still equally shocked and appalled that referees Kelly Sutherland and Wes McCauley will be officiating in the Stanley Cup Finals, even though the writing was already on the wall.
For those who may be unaware, Kelly Sutherland was part of the officiating crew who allowed the Tampa Bay Lightning to get away with murder against the Leafs in Game 6, including (but not limited to) allowing Morgan Rielly to get violently cross-checking in front of the Leafs net, away from the play, immediately before Ryan McDonagh's very controversial game-tying goal.
Also, if you'll recall, that was the night Tampa played a perfectly clean game, being assessed just 2 minor penalties in the contest - an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to Nick Paul in the first period, which was part of offsetting minors, with Justin Holl drawing an interference call on the play as well - and a hooking penalty on Cal Foote in the second frame. And of course, who can forget this phantom high-sticking call against David Kampf:
This, of course, led to a subsequent high-sticking call against Alexander Kerfoot on Victor Hedman, though Hedman was the one who lifted Kerfoot's stick into his own face. Nevertheless, that call never happens if the officials either call Cal Foote for embellishment or don't botch the call and issue a penalty against Kampf for a phantom high stick in the first place.
McCauley, on the other hand, may have had an even worse Game 7. I think all I really have to mention here is that John Tavares scored an unbelievable goal to tie the game at 1 only to have the goal called off AND a penalty called against Justin Holl for interference on one of the softest calls in NHL Playoffs history. Just how bad was the call? Well, there are several examples of even more egregious picks going uncalled in these playoffs. Here's a few of them:
Nevertheless, here we are. With both Sutherland and McCauley officiating in the Stanley Cup Finals, despite either being completely incompetent OR being guilty of game management. Nice.
In addition, Gord Dwyer, Chris Rooney and Jean Hebert will also officiate some games in the SCF. The linesmen for the Finals include Steve Barton, Ryan Daisy, Brad Kovachik, Kiel Murchison and Jonny Murray.
