From 24 to 16, the cuts just keep on coming.  We’re down to four teams in the NHL, and four pairs of referees and four pairs of linesmen. Here are the NHL Referees and Linesmen moving on to the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals.

Referees

Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer, Marc Joannette, Steve Kozari,  Wes McCauley, Dan O’Rourke, Chris Rooney, and Kelly Sutherland.

Standby referee for the Conference Finals is Tim Peel.

Out from Round 2:  Tim Peel, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Francois St. Laurent

 

Linesmen

Derek Amell, Devin Berg, Scott Cherrey, Greg Devorski, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson,  Jonny Murray, Pierre Racicot

Standby linesman for the Conference Finals is Ryan Gibbons.

Out from Round 2: Michel Cormier, Ryan Gibbons, Brian Murphy, Mark Shewchyk

 

Noteworthy

Three pairings from the second round saw both officials move on (Charron/O’Rourke, Rooney/Dwyer, Kozari/Sutherland), while refs Wes McCauley and Marc Joannette will have to find new partners as they advance. One pairing was completely eliminated – Pollock/St. Laurent (DAL/STL Gm2, BOS/CBJ Gm3, SJS/COL Gm4).

All of the promoted referees have previously worked a Conference Final.  Charron and Dwyer are the only two remaining who have not yet refereed a Stanley Cup Final.

Linesmen Devin Berg and Trent Knorr are making their first trips to the Conference Finals.

Brian Murphy, reportedly set to retire at the end of next season, is out. With his upcoming retirement, he’ll miss the playoffs next season. That puts his career total at an impressive 303 career playoff games.  He’ll continue to add to his regular season total of 2,010 games in 2019-20.

No word on whether the promoted pairings will stick together or if we’ll see partners shuffled for the second round of the playoffs.

 

NHL Series Supervisors

For the playoffs, a series supervisor will be assigned to each playoff series. Nearly all are former NHL referees working as Officiating Managers. Here’s the assignments for the third round:

  • Hurricanes vs. Bruins – Bill McCreary*
  • Sharks vs. Blues – Kay Whitmore


Postseason Paychecks

Officials, like players, earn their paychecks for their regular season work. NHL Referees and linesmen, though, get a bonus for working the playoffs.

From the previous NHLOA CBA which ran through 2014, referees earned $18,250 per round worked, while linesmen picked up an additional $12,100 per round. We anticipate that has increased in the most recent agreement.

Standby officials earned $900 for referees and $600 for linesmen, with a bump to $2,450 or $1,650, respectively, if they were called into duty and had to work a game.

 

Who’s Missing

Check out our previous article on the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoff Referees and Linesmen to see who made the cut and who missed the postseason altogether, as well as who moved on to Round 2.

 

Congratulations to all the referees and linesmen selected to work the Conference Finals of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs