Today's NHL Referees and Linespersons – 6/24/24

NHL Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom is sticking to his rotation. The odd-numbered crew remains intact for tonight’s game 7:   

Stanley Cup Final Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers Game 7 – 8:00 PM EST REFEREES   Dan O’Rourke #9 Steve Kozari #40 Games ’23-24 (RS/PO) 64 / 15 66 / 16 Career Games (RS/PO) 1447 / 218 1218 / 168 First NHL Game 10/2/99 10/15/05 Birthplace Calgary, AB Penticton, BC Goals/Gm 6.0 (35) 6.2 (20) PP Opp/Gm 6.1 (22) 6.3 (12) PPG/Gm 1.2 (32) 1.1 (38) Penl/Gm 8.3 (9) 7.7 (17) PIM/Gm 20.3 (9) 18.3 (26) % of Penl on Home 50.4% (14) 49.2% (25) % PP Opp for Home 51.0% (29) 52.0% (21) Penl Diff.* 1.5 (7) 1.3 (22) Home Win % 74% (3) 52% (36) Home Rec. 45-14-6 30-27-10 OT/SO Games 24.6% (8) 17.9% (29) Team Records 23-24 22-23 21-22 23-24 22-23 21-22 EDM 2-2-0 2-0-0 1-3 4-1-1 3-1-0 3-2 FLA 4-0-1 5-0-0 3-2 2-0-0 3-2-1 4-1     LINESPERSONS   Matt MacPherson #83 Jonny Murray #95 Games ’23-24 (RS/PO) 72 / 15 71 / 16 Career Games (RS/PO) 887 / 127 1503 / 208 First NHL Game 10/11/11 10/7/00 First Playoff Game 4/17/14 4/16/09 Birthplace Antigonish, NS Beauport, QC

Refs Steve Kozari and Dan O’Rourke worked Game 1 (FLA W 3-0), Game 3 (FLA W 4-3), and Game 5 (EDM W 5-3) of this series. 

Kozari and O’Rourke were paired up starting in the Conference Finals, where they worked FLA/NYR Game 1 (FLA W 3-0), DAL/EDM Game 3 (EDM L 5-3), and FLA/NYR Game 5 (FLA W 3-2).

Referee Steve Kozari worked most of the postseason alongside Kyle Rehman. In round 1, the duo handled NSH/VAN Game 1, COL/WPG Game 2, NYR/WSH Game 4, and TOR/BOS Game 5. Kozari also worked DAL/VGK Game 6 alongside referee Francois St. Laurent. 

The second round saw Kozari and Rehman take the ice for CAR/NYR Game 1, EDM/VAN Game 1 (EDM L 5-4), DAL/COL Game 3, and BOS/FLA Game 5 (FLA L 2-1).  Kozari was also paired up with Francis Charron for NYR/CAR Game 6.

The Oilers are 1-4 this postseason under Kozari; the Panthers have gone 4-2. 

Referee Dan O’Rourke skated alongside Tom Chmielewski in the opening round, working VGK/DAL Game 1, LAK/EDM Game 2 (EDM L 5-4 OT), and WPG/COL Game 3. He was then paired up with Chris Rooney for BOS/TOR Game 6 and with Wes McCauley for VGK/DAL Game 7.

O’Rourke worked Round 2 with Francois St. Laurent, officiating COL/DAL Game 1, FLA/BOS Game 2 (FLA W 6-1), CAR/NYR Game 5, and EDM/VAN Game 5 (EDM L 3-2). 

The Florida Panthers have gone 14-1-1 in their last 16 games under O’Rourke, including playoffs.  The Oilers are 1-5 this postseason when O’Rourke is working; the Panthers are 5-1.

Tonight’s game puts O’Rourke into a tie with referee Chris Rooney for the most Stanley Cup Final games worked by an active official (19), behind Kelly Sutherland (27) and Wes McCauley (24).

Neither Kozari nor O’Rourke have ever worked Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final. 

Kozari has worked a Cup-clinching game once (2014 – LAK def. NYR, Game 5).

O’Rourke has twice officiated Cup-winning games (2012 – LAK def. NJD, Game 6; 2021 – TBL def. MTL, Game 5)

Standby Officials: Jean Hebert (#15), Devin Berg (#87)Officiating Supervisor: Kris King

 Stats have been updated through the end of the 2023-24 regular season. 

      Games: PS (Preseason); RS (Regular Season); PO (Playoffs) 

Number in orange/parentheses indicated referee’s rank among active officials.

* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2.  Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams. 

NHL Referees, Linespersons Set For 2024 Stanley Cup Final

We’ve got new rules, new refs, promoted refs, and an updated pronunciation guide for 2023-24.

Here is the NHL’s officating roster for the 2023-24 season: 

NHL Officials – 2023-24