NHL announces referees ahead of Cup Final: Called out for controversial picks

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Felip Gosselin
June 7, 2024 (7:56 PM)

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The NHL continues to grapple with significant refereeing issues that have persisted for years, and this year's playoffs are no different.

Gary Bettman has announced his four selected referees:

Congratulations to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final Officials:
Referees: Jean Hebert, Steve Kozari, Dan O'Rourke, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Devin Berg, Ryan Daisy, Matt MacPherson, Jonny Murray

The renowned NHL insider Pierre Lebrun wasted no time commenting his choices

Lots of pressure on these 4 refs when you consider Oilers' power play. Major theme in this Cup final

Fans promptly raised concerns about potential bias from these referees, all of whom have accumulated their fair share of questionable calls throughout their careers.

This is how they fix the Finals. Using the same 4 biased refs throughout. Florida wins due to the all American #buttmanAgenda. Here we go again... http://thebluepaint.com #31YearsAndCounting #ZipCodeCup #ButtmanAgenda #NHLBookiesRiggedHockeyLeague

Wow . Rourke and Kozari .. Oilers are screwed.

There is no reason, no reason at all the NHL should've picked Kozari. Hes shown clear bias vs Edmonton and there's a history of issues there. Simplest choice just to select a different ref and somehow they f**k up. NHL proving why it remains the worst ran league

Steve Kozari's perceived bias against the Edmonton Oilers could favour the Florida Panthers, adding an intriguing element to the upcoming series! The Oilers are the first Canadian team to make it to the Stanley Cup Final since the Montreal Canadiens did so in 2021. They could be the first Canadian team to win it since Montreal did it in 1993.

As seen on MarkerZone News: NHL's referee choices for the Stanley Cup Finals causes major controversy