The NHL is sticking with the officiating rotation, as the stripes from Games 1 and 3 are back for Saturday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Panthers and Oilers:
Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers
Stanley Cup Final
Game 5 – 8:00 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Wes McCauley #4 |
Francis Charron #6 |
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| Games ’24-25 | 73 | 72 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1439 / 219 | 805 / 104 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 1/20/03 | 4/5/10 | ||||
| Birthplace | Georgetown, ON | Ottawa, ON | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 6.2 (10) | 5.6 (16) | 6.1 (17) | 6.2 (8) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm | 5.4 (16) | 4.4 (6) | 5.1 (38) | 3.6 (10) | ||||
| PPG/Gm | 1.2 (19) | 0.3 (20) | 1.1 (27) | 0.6 (9) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 7.0 (16) | 8.6 (8) | 6.3 (35) | 9.0 (7) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 16.7 (14) | 23.6 (10) | 15.2 (30) | 34.9 (3) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 49.6% (16) | 47.8% (10) | 49.7% (5) | 44.4% (17) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 52.1% (24) | 25.7% (11) | 50.0% (37) | 28.1% (8) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* | 1.4 (10) | 1.4 (7) | 1.2 (30) | 1.2 (13) | ||||
| Home Win % | 68% (4) | 75% (3) | 63% (17) | 56% (16) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 45-19-10 | 10-3 | 41-22-10 | 9-4 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 17.6% (29) | 21.9% (15) | ||||
| Team Records | 24-25 | 23-24 | 22-23 | 24-25 | 23-24 | 22-23 |
| FLA | 2-3-0 | 3-0-0 | 0-2-1 | 4-3-0 | 2-1-0 | 0-4-1 |
| EDM | 2-3-0 | 2-1-1 | 3-0-0 | 2-4-0 | 3-0-0 | 2-0-2 |
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Scott Cherrey #50 |
Trent Knorr #74 |
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| Games ’24-25 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1232 / 171 | 771 / 42 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/6/07 | 11/13/13 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/15/11 | 4/12/17 | ||||
| Birthplace | Drayton, ON | Powell River, BC | ||||
Refs Wes McCauley and Francis Charron worked Game 1 (EDM W 4-3 OT) and Game 3 (FLA W 6-1, with a playoff-high 140 PIM).
This duo is working together for the fifth time this postseason, having also worked EDM/DAL Game 1 (EDM L 6-3) and CAR/FLA Game 3 (FLA W 6-2). in the Conference Finals. McCauley also worked the deciding Game 5 between Edmonton and Dallas (EDM W 6-3) with ref Chris Rooney.
Wes McCauley was paired up with Furman South in Round 1, working MIN/VGK Game 1, EDM/LAK Game 2 (EDM L 6-2), and TBL/FLA Game 3 (FLA L 5-1), before being partnered with Dan O’Rourke for COL/DAL Game 7. McCauley also had to step in and work the lines at FLA/TOR Game 2 after an injury to Shandor Alphonso.
He worked Round 2 with TJ Luxmore, skating at CAR/WSH Game 1, TOR/FLA Game 3 (FLA W 5-4), VGK/EDM Game 4 (EDM W 3-0), and DAL/WPG Game 5.
Referee Francis Charron started the postseason alongside Graham Skilliter, working STL/WPG Game 1, COL/DAL Game 2, WSH/MTL Game 3, CAR/NJD Game 4, and TOR/OTT Game 6.
He partnered up with ref Gord Dwyer for the second round, officiating VGK/EDM Game 2 (EDM W 5-4), TOR/FLA Game 4 (FLA W 2-0), WPG/DAL Game 4, and CAR/WSH Game 5.
Combined, the Oilers are 4-3 under either of tonight’s refs, while the Panthers are 4-2.
Home teams have won four straight under Charron.
Linespersons Trent Knorr and Scott Cherrey are also back from Games 1 and 3 of the Cup Final. They were paired up starting in Round 2, where they worked CAR/WSH Game 1, TOR/FLA Game 3, WPG/DAL Game 4, and WPG/DAL Game 6; the duo also worked EDM/DAL Game 1, CAR/FLA Game 3, and CAR/FLA Game 5 in the conference finals. Knorr worked the opening round with James Tobias, while Cherrey skated alongside Libor Suchanek.
Series Supervisor: Kris King
Stats have been updated through two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Data in blue shows current playoff stats and ranks.
Games: RS (Regular Season) / PO (Playoffs)
Stats/Numbers: ’24-25 avg. (’24-25 rank) | ’25 Playoffs (’25 Playoff rank)
Number in orange/parentheses indicated referee’s rank among active officials.
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2. Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.
The full line-up of playoff officials for the Conference Finals of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
NHL Referees, Linespersons Selected for 2025 Stanley Cup Final
We’ve got referee stats, new rules, new refs, promoted officials, and an updated pronunciation guide for 2024-25.
Here is the NHL’s officating roster for the 2024-25 season:
