Referee Chris Rooney suffered a scary injury and was forced to leave Game 7 between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs after getting caught with a high stick from Niko Mikkola.
Just 13 seconds into the second period of Sunday’s game, Mikkola attempted to backhand the puck away from a forchecking Mitch Marner. Mikkola’s follow-through caught Rooney just under the visor, pushing his helmet up and cutting him near his right eye.
Play was stopped for the injury as Rooney remained down on the ice, severely bleeding. After being helped off the ice by the medical trainers, he was stitched back up but did not return to the game.
Referee Garrett Rank – on standby with linesperson James Tobias – was called into action. Rank had previously worked Game 6 of the series with Jean Hebert.
Rooney, who will turn 50 later this month, is in his 24th year as a National Hockey League referee, having made his debut in November 2000. He’s gone on to work 1,533 regular season games and 179 playoff matches, including 19 games in the Stanley Cup Final.
While there’s been no official update on his condition, Pierre LeBrun reports that Rooney avoided serious injury on the play.
“Update on veteran ref Chris Rooney who left Game 7 last night in Toronto after taking a stick on a follow through. Scary incident. Has a black eye but luckily no eye damage. Hopes to be back working later this round. Good news it wasn’t worse.” – Pierre LeBrun, via X
Rooney has been selected to move on to officiate the Conference Finals. No word on if he’ll miss any games while he recovers, but expect to see him back out on the ice soon.
The Florida Panthers went on to win Game 7 by a score of 6-1. Officials for the game were referees Chris Rooney (#5) and Jean Hebert (#15) with Garrett Rank and James Tobias on standby duties.
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