Head down to ice level for the sights and sounds – including some mic’d up officials – from the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Finals.

 

 

Referee Wes McCauley kicks off the mic’d up action from Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. 

“We’re only gonna take one guy! Who wants to be the guy?” asks McCauley. 

“I’m only taking one guy. No, no, no. You started the whole thing,” McCauley says to Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk. “Just because you’re mic’d up doesn’t mean you need to ******* talk to everyone tonight for ***** sake.”

 

Vegas Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault – from the bench – asks referee Dan O’Rourke about an earlier non-call from Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. 

“What’d you think on that first shift, back door there, eh?” the Vegas winger asks.  

“I think that stick was straight up and straight down,” replies the ref.

“Under his stick? So he had a good one?”

“Yeah, straight up, straight down. No pull [for a hook]”.

 

Jean Hebert chats with Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. 

“First the original one, then they took after,” Hebert explains on matching minor penalties to Burns and Tkachuk.

“Are you out–  were you standing out here?” Martinook asks, referring to the ref’s position in the neutral zone. “Were you not out here?  Hey! Did you not see Bennett come in and ******* stick him?!” 

 

McCauley gets back in on the action at the Panthers’ net.

“Hey! We’re done!” McCauley yells after Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky covers the puck for a stoppage.”He didn’t have it ’til I got here…  That wasn’t a cross-check, it was a push…   you know that!”

 

Ref Dan O’Rourke drops some knowledge at Stars vs. Golden Knights.

“There’s no altercation,” O’Rourke explains. “That rule only happens if there’s an altercation.”

“I didn’t know the rule,” admits Dallas foward Roope Hintz.

“Yeah,” the ref replies. “I know a couple of ’em.”

 

You can hear O’Rourke’s side of the conversation with the NHL’s Situation Room as they review the series-clinching goal from the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk. 

“I dont think so either,” says O’Rourke. “No, that’s a goal all day long.  That’s a goal.”

 

Of course, there’s also referee Chris Rooney teasing Florida’s Brandon Montour about his ice time in Florida’s four-overtime victory over the Hurricanes… 

 

Check out more highlights from the officials, players, and coaches from the Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.