With two teams – the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins – already set, here’s the third team taking the ice for the Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL has named the referees and linesmen officiating the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

 

Referees

 
Gord Dwyer #19 – 1st Cup Final

Steve Kozari #40 – 2nd Cup Final

Wes McCauley #4 – 7th Cup Final

Chris Rooney #5 – 4th Cup Final

Kelly Sutherland #11 – 6th Cup Final

Out from Conference Finals: Francis Charron, Marc Joannette, Dan O’Rourke

 

Linesmen

 
Derek Amell #75 – 7th Cup Final

Scott Cherrey #50 – 2nd Cup Final

Greg Devorski #54 – 4th Cup Final

Pierre Racicot #65 – 10th Cup Final

Out from Conference Finals: Devin Berg, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson,  Jonny Murray

 

Noteworthy

Typically, the NHL selects four referees and four linesman for the Cup Final.  This season, they’ve chosen five.  The change is likely due to the injury suffered by Wes McCauley in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final.  If McCauley is good to go, the league can rotate the five; if not, they’re covered to go with the remaining four.

Dwyer is refereeing his first Stanley Cup Final. He’s reached the Conference Finals twice prior to this season (2016, 2018).  All other officials have worked the Cup Final before.

McCauley is working his seventh straight Stanley Cup Final (2013-2019).

Two pairings (Rooney/Dwyer and Kozari/Sutherland) have advanced to the Final. No word on whether they’ll remain together as pairings or if they’ll change it up for the final round.

Sutherland worked the Cup Final for the last Bruins Stanley Cup win in 2011, when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games.

The last time the Bruins and Blues met in a Stanley Cup Final, the Stanley Cup Final officials were referees Art Skov, Bill Friday, John Ashley, and Bruce Hood.  Linesmen were Neil Armstrong, Claude Bechard, Matt Pavelich, and Ron Ego.  Armstrong’s son is current St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.

 

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.

  • Blues vs. Bruins – TBD


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  and who worked the Conference Final.

Congratulations to all the referees and linesmen selected to work the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final!