Steve Kozari is having an unfortunately eventful week of playoff hockey.
First, he was hit in the chest by a deflected puck at Blue Jackets/Penguins.
Referee Steve Kozari (#40) hit by puck (via @myregularface)
That was a close call for the visorless official. Saturday night’s puck came even closer.
Kozari was helped off the ice by the Bruins’ trainer. After a TV timeout, he was right back on the ice. But should he have been?
Seen tweets about Steve Kozari's toughness for coming back in a game after taking a puck in the face. But, was there a consussion protocol?
— Dave Patterson (@sportsrefs) April 26, 2014
Each playoff game has a designated standby referee. (For this game, it was Francis Charron. Maybe that would’ve been a good time to let Kozari recover and get the kid into the game.
UPDATED: Stick-tap to r/hockey and Redditor spinlighted for catching the fact that Kozari also took a shot on January 30, 2014, working Coyotes/Sabres:
NHL Referee Steve Kozari (#40) hit up high at Coyotes/Blues on January 30, 2014
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This guy hates the ducks. Just look at his track record, it proves it 100%. The players get penalized by this piece of @#$%, yet all the mistakes he does, nothing happens. It should cost him money. But a lot of fans know why the puck hits him in the face, cause he makes the worst calls. So payback happens. 12-31-14 you were the worst. I can see why he gets hit in the face with the puck, its probably on purpose.